Senior Minister of State for Health Koh Poh Koon said Thursday that the median doctor-consultation waiting time for walk-in patients at Singapore polyclinics was eight minutes [1] in 2025.
These figures highlight the government's effort to manage primary healthcare demand and the push toward a more predictable, appointment-based system to avoid peak-hour congestion.
Speaking during parliamentary questions on May 7, 2025, Koh provided a detailed breakdown of patient experiences. While the median wait remained low, the 95th-percentile waiting time for walk-in patients reached 72 minutes [1] during that same year. This gap indicates that while most patients are seen quickly, a small percentage experience significantly longer delays.
To address this disparity, Koh urged the public to shift away from walk-in visits. He said that the goal is to encourage more patients to utilize scheduled appointments to minimize the variance in waiting times.
"What we're trying to do is to stick as much as possible to more scheduled appointments, so we minimise that variance," Koh said [2].
Legislators noted that the current data shows a positive trend in clinic efficiency. Member of Parliament Vikram Nair said the update was an improvement from the last query conducted two years ago [3].
The push for scheduled appointments is part of a broader strategy to optimize clinic resources, ensuring that doctor availability matches patient arrival patterns more closely. By reducing the reliance on walk-ins, the ministry aims to lower the 95th-percentile peak, making the patient experience more consistent across the board.
“The median doctor-consultation waiting time for walk-in patients at Singapore polyclinics was eight minutes in 2025.”
The disparity between the median wait of eight minutes and the 95th-percentile wait of 72 minutes suggests that polyclinic congestion is driven by unpredictable surges rather than a systemic lack of capacity. By transitioning the population toward a scheduled appointment model, Singapore aims to flatten these peaks, effectively transforming the primary care experience from a reactive walk-in service to a managed logistics system.
