SINGAPORE: Thirteen years after a complaint was filed against a senior doctor, he was suspended for seven months from Monday (April 27), which is half of what a disciplinary tribunal had intended after finding him guilty of professional misconduct.
The tribunal said in the decision grounds published on April 27 that “after very careful consideration, (it applied) a discount of 50 per cent... reducing the sentence from 14 months to seven months”.
This is largely due to the “inordinate delay in prosecution spanning over 12 years”, which took a toll on the doctor, whose otherwise exemplary career was noted by the tribunal.
Dr Teo Sek Khee, a geriatrician, was said to have failed to “provide competent and appropriate care” to a 72-year-old patient, including not taking the necessary steps to detect and identify gastrointestinal bleeding and not managing the patient’s condition appropriately when the patient was admitted in 2013 between Aug 24 and Sept 2.
The Singapore Medical Council (SMC) had brought Dr Teo before the disciplinary tribunal, which also censured him and directed him to pay the costs and expenses of the proceedings, including the cost of SMC’s lawyers.
He also had to submit a written undertaking to SMC that he would not engage in the conduct again or any similar conduct.
What Dr Teo did
On Aug 22, 2013, the patient, who has diabetes, was seen by Dr Teo for water retention in his ankles at a hospital, the name of which was redacted in the decision grounds.
Dr Teo treated him before sending the patient home. Two days later, the patient came back and was admitted as his symptoms did not subside.
The patient had several risk factors that could lead to gastrointestinal bleeding, such as his diabetes was not well-controlled, and he had been on warfarin, a blood thinner, for around six years.
Dr Teo was accused of several things, including not conducting certain tests and examinations, and despite knowing the risk factors, went on to discharge the patient on Sept 2, 2013.
The patient was admitted to another hospital three days later after he fell at home and sustained a significant head injury.
He was diagnosed with upper gastrointestinal bleeding and had to receive multiple blood transfusions to correct his severe anaemia before being discharged after seven days of intensive treatment.
His ordeal continued with several months of recurrent bleeding, and eventually needed surgery to remove his spleen in July 2014 to prevent further life-threatening bleeding episodes.
The 13-year saga
SMC received the patient’s complaint in November 2013.
Around 1½ years later, in June 2015, the Complaints Committee appointed issued a letter of advice to Dr Teo, saying it had decided on no formal inquiry or referral to a disciplinary tribunal.
The patient subsequently appealed to the Health Minister in July 2015, and the Ministry of Health (MOH) in September 2017 directed the Complaints Committee to provide detailed reasons for its decision, which it did one year later.
The patient then confirmed his intention to continue appealing in October 2018.
In October 2021, MOH directed SMC to appoint the disciplinary tribunal.
Another three years passed before SMC issued a notice of inquiry on November 2024 to serve Dr Teo the formal charges.
The Straits Times has contacted MOH and SMC on the delays pointed out by the tribunal.
In a notice published in the Government Gazette on April 27, Dr Teo’s suspension started on the same day, and will end on Nov 26.
50% discount on suspension
In deciding the disciplinary orders, the tribunal chaired by renowned paediatrician and neonatologist Professor Ho Lai Yun said it adopted a starting point of a 14-month suspension.
This was considering the seniority of Dr Teo, who has been practising medicine since 1985, the seriousness of his clinical failures, as well as similar cases involving failures to diagnose and manage medical emergencies.
The tribunal also noted that Dr Teo pleaded guilty only after six days of contested hearings had concluded, and before the delivery of its verdict on liability. The hearings were conducted over five days in October 2025 and a final session on March 16, 2026.
It further noted Dr Teo made various attempts during the hearings to “elide from taking responsibility by putting up a range of implausible reasons in an ostensible bid” to explain away the series of omissions which culminated with the patient’s collapse at home.
The tribunal added Dr Teo had made a “plainly wrong” decision to discharge the patient, “despite concerning signs that all was not well”.
Nevertheless, it decided on a seven-month suspension, half of what it started off with.
It said the “most cogent mitigating factor” was the inordinate delay in prosecution which spanned over 12 years and caused real prejudice and a “significant psychological toll” to Dr Teo.
At the end of the decision grounds, the tribunal said it felt that the patient had persisted so long as he was “genuinely seeking answers on his treatment” and what might have happened thereafter, resulting in his collapse.
With the conclusion of the hearing, it encourages Dr Teo “to reach out to connect with the patient in a gesture of conciliation and closure”. - The Straits Times/ANN
