Longer Consultations at Joo Chiat

When a 10-minute appointment isn’t enough

Most GP consultations in Singapore run 8 to 10 minutes. That works well for a sore throat, a prescription refill, or a simple acute problem. It does not work well for a patient with diabetes, high blood pressure, early kidney disease and high cholesterol who is now being asked to take seven medications a day — and whose diabetes is being managed by one clinic, blood pressure by another, and kidney function by a third.

Consultations at our Joo Chiat clinic are 25-minute appointments with Dr Kenneth Tan — Family Medicine Specialist — designed for situations where the short slot simply isn’t adequate.

It isn’t a separate specialty. It’s the same general-practice care you’d expect from a family physician — but with the time to actually understand the whole clinical picture, review the medication list properly, coordinate what needs coordinating, and agree on a plan you can follow.

Who it’s for

1. People with multiple chronic conditions

If you have two or more of the following, the longer Joo Chiat slot is usually the right fit:

• Type 2 diabetes
• High blood pressure
• Chronic kidney disease (any stage)
• High cholesterol
• Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MASLD)
• Established cardiovascular disease
• Obesity being managed medically
• Gout alongside any of the above

Modern evidence shows these conditions drive each other — they’re different expressions of the same underlying process (see our cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic guide). Managing them in one coordinated plan, by one doctor who holds the whole picture, is meaningfully better than having them treated as four separate problems across four clinicians.

Typical reasons patients in this group book at Joo Chiat:

• Polypharmacy review — your medication list has grown over the years; you’d like someone to look at all of it together and see what can be simplified
• Treat-to-target review — your numbers have been “OK-ish” for a while and you want to know whether they should be pushed harder, or whether current treatment is appropriate
• Second opinion before escalating treatment or starting a new medication class
• Consolidation of care — transferring from several clinics to a single family physician

2. People with dermatology concerns

Dr Kenneth Tan holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Clinical Dermatology (Queen Mary University of London). A dedicated longer appointment at Joo Chiat allows for proper skin examination — not squeezed into a 10-minute acute visit. Fridays are our dedicated day for skin appointments.

Common skin reasons to book the longer slot:

• Chronic skin conditions that haven’t settled on first-line treatment — eczema, psoriasis, acne, chronic urticaria, rosacea
• Complex paediatric eczema, where a full skincare plan and parent counselling take time
• Treatment plan fatigue — you’ve been cycling through creams and want a structured review

For procedures beyond primary-care scope — dermoscopic skin mapping, cryotherapy, punch biopsy, shave excision, pigmentation treatments — we refer to an appropriate specialist with a proper letter. Intralesional steroid injection (keloid, cystic acne lesion) is available in-clinic.

3. Patients considering tailored executive health screening

Most executive health packages are bundles of tests assembled by the provider, not by the patient. A longer consultation can serve as a proper clinical conversation about what screening actually makes sense for you — given your age, family history, ethnicity, risk factors, and specific concerns — before any test is ordered. See our Adult Preventive Health Screening guide for the framework we follow.

What happens during the visit

The session is structured, not rushed:

1. History — a proper conversation about how things actually are, not just the presenting complaint. Existing conditions, current medications, family history, lifestyle, what you’re worried about, what you want out of the visit.
2. Physical examination — targeted to what’s relevant. For skin concerns, this includes proper lighting and a careful, unhurried examination.
3. Review of investigations — we go through what has been done and what should be done.
4. A written plan — medications (kept, adjusted, stopped), lifestyle, what to watch for, next review. Sent to you after the visit.
5. Referrals where needed — to a dermatologist, nephrologist, cardiologist, or other specialist if that’s what the case calls for, with a proper letter rather than a verbal hand-off.

The logistics

Duration: 25 minutes (standard appointments at our Punggol clinic remain 10 minutes).

Location: 172 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01, Singapore 427443. Joo Chiat MRT (Thomson-East Coast Line) is a short walk.

Fees: A standard consultation at Joo Chiat is $125; a short consultation (follow-ups, repeat prescriptions, simpler issues) is $65. Fees cover the doctor’s time and expertise — medications and in-clinic procedures are billed separately at usual rates. Your consultation fee is confirmed with you at the time of booking, and fees are visible in our fee schedule and on clinic signage per price-display regulations.

By appointment only. Please book in advance — appointment slots are limited.

MediSave, CHAS, Healthier SG: consultations qualify for the usual subsidies where you’re eligible. Medication portions of chronic-disease visits are subsidised under HSG Chronic Tier where enrolled. We can help you enrol in HSG at the visit if that makes sense for you.

What we ask you to bring:

• A list of your current medications (packaging or photos of labels are fine)
• Recent laboratory or imaging results — particularly the last 12 months
• A brief list of your own questions or concerns (even two lines of notes helps)
• Any specialist letters from the last year or two

How to book

If you’re not sure whether the longer Joo Chiat slot is right for you, a short call to reception usually clarifies — 6920 1952 (Joo Chiat) or 6312 4589 (Punggol). No one will steer you to the longer slot if a standard Punggol visit is more appropriate.

A few honest points

• Joo Chiat consultations are priced above a standard GP visit for a reason — 2.5× the time, with a Family Medicine Specialist. For a simple sore throat or an acute URTI, a standard consultation at our Punggol clinic is the right fit and you don’t need the longer slot.
• Most of our patients don’t need the longer slot — and that’s fine. It exists for specific situations where more time produces a better outcome: complex chronic review, skin conditions, second opinions, tailored screening.
• Family Medicine Specialist is a specific SMC-registered title — not a generic description. Kenneth is fellowship-trained and registered under the Specialist Accreditation Board for Family Medicine. Separately, the diplomas in Clinical Dermatology and Sports Medicine are post-graduate qualifications in areas of special interest, not specialty registrations in their own right.
• We will refer you to a dermatologist, nephrologist, or other relevant specialist when that’s clinically appropriate. A longer consultation doesn’t substitute for specialist care when it’s needed — it’s often the quickest route to it, because we can arrange it properly in the same visit.

Get in touch

Joo Chiat (by appointment) — 172 Joo Chiat Road, #01-01, Singapore 427443 · Tel 6920 1952

Punggol (standard consultations, walk-ins welcome) — 658 Punggol East, #01-04, Singapore 820658 · Tel 6312 4589

Email — admin@ktmc.sg