One is to reduce reliance on hospitals and another is to increase capacity
By Linette Lai And Goh Chin Lian, the Straits Times, 21 Jan 2014
THE way to ease the shortage of beds at public hospitals is to improve facilities for community care and home care so that there is "less reliance" on hospitals, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
One such move is to "enhance and strengthen" primary healthcare providers such as polyclinics and general practitioners (GPs).
Patients with chronic conditions, for example, can seek treatment from them instead of having to return to hospital frequently.
Similarly, if those who need medical help for non-emergency conditions visit night clinics, the strain on hospitals' emergency departments will ease up, he said.
Similarly, if those who need medical help for non-emergency conditions visit night clinics, the strain on hospitals' emergency departments will ease up, he said.
Yet another way, he added, is to get people to turn to community care and home care options, such as nursing homes or daycare centres for the elderly.
"If we continue to rely on hospital beds, and the home care sector is unable to develop or families are unwilling to take care of their family members at home... I think it will be more difficult," he said at the topping out ceremony for Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in Jurong to mark the completion of its structure.
Mr Gan made the point in a speech in which he spelt out the two long-term solutions to the shortage of hospital beds.
The other is to increase hospital capacity.
Meanwhile, hospital bed occupancy rates have "more or less stabilised". It stood at 87.6 per cent at the beginning of this year.
Meanwhile, hospital bed occupancy rates have "more or less stabilised". It stood at 87.6 per cent at the beginning of this year.
"But the bed situation will remain tight because given our ageing population, the demand for hospital beds will always be there," he said.
"Senior citizens generally take longer to recover to be ready for discharge. Coupled with a smaller family size... some family members may need to take a little longer to make preparations for the care arrangements, and these factors will affect the length of stay."
Later in Parliament, Mr Gan gave an update to Dr Lam Pin Min (Sengkang West) on the short- and medium-term measures to tackle the bed shortage. These include partnering private hospitals to supply about 50 beds.
Later in Parliament, Mr Gan gave an update to Dr Lam Pin Min (Sengkang West) on the short- and medium-term measures to tackle the bed shortage. These include partnering private hospitals to supply about 50 beds.
Non-Constituency MP Gerald Giam asked if public hospitals had considered converting the A and B1 class wards to C class, and if they were still marketing their services to foreigners.
Mr Gan said some hospitals move C class patients up to B2 or B1 wards, while foreigners occupy less than 2 per cent of hospital beds, including emergency cases.
For the medium-term, a minimum of six new hospitals are scheduled to open by 2020.
For the medium-term, a minimum of six new hospitals are scheduled to open by 2020.
Ng Teng Fong General Hospital will start with 500 beds by December. Another 200 will be available in its community hospital section.
A window by each bed in every ward at the general hospital improves privacy and ventilation. An outdoor terrace connects to the intensive care unit.
Said Jurong Health Services chief executive officer Foo Hee Jug: "For patients in a critical condition and who have been lying in bed for some time, sunshine makes a world of difference."
Home nursing care, however, was a concern for Mr Liang Eng Hwa (Holland-Bukit Timah GRC), who asked that the 3Ms - MediShield, Medisave and Medifund - be allowed to be used for it.
Mr Gan said his ministry is reviewing its financing, especially for needy patients.
Sengkang hospitals 'cannot be rushed'
By Goh Chin Lian, the Straits Times, 21 Jan 2014
By Goh Chin Lian, the Straits Times, 21 Jan 2014
THE building of Sengkang General and Sengkang Community hospitals is a complex undertaking and it would be risky to hasten their completion, said Health Minister Gan Kim Yong yesterday.
Besides the physical infrastructure, a team of people to run the hospital also has to be built up, he said in his reply to Dr Lam Pin Min (Sengkang West). Citing Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, which is due to open by the end of the year, Mr Gan said it is already training and building up a team by putting staff through their paces at Alexandra Hospital.
"Manpower development cannot be accelerated at will because we need time for people to be trained, to acquire the necessary skills and experience," he said.
The Sengkang hospitals are due to be ready in 2018.
Immediate measures:
- Adding more than 300 beds in the past six months
- Partnering private hospitals to supply about 50 bedsMedium-term measures:
- Public hospitals and nursing homes to add 1,200 beds by the end of the year; 10,000 beds by 2020
- Six new hospitals by 2020; 12 new and replacement nursing homes by 2016
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