Number and Sufficiency of Patient Navigators Employed across Restructured Hospitals and Specialty Centres

Debated in Parliament on 2 Feb 2021.

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As of end 2020, there were about 360 full-time equivalent staff in patient navigation roles across public acute hospitals and specialty centres, including trained nurses.
The ratio of patient navigators to patients is determined by each institution based on workload and patient needs, with navigation roles being part of the nursing skills framework and sometimes performed by community nurses.
The number of staff in these roles has grown by 3% annually over the past three years (2018–2020), reflecting incremental adjustments rather than a specific target ratio.

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Tan Wu Meng

Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Health (a) how many patient navigators are currently employed across the restructured hospitals and specialty centres; (b) what is the ratio of patient navigators to patients on active follow-up and patients with complex medical conditions respectively; and (c) whether the Ministry will consider provisioning for additional patient navigator manpower and support given the ageing population and patients facing more complex co-morbidities.

Gan Kim Yong

Patient navigators are staff who help patients steer through the healthcare system or find appropriate care options. Depending on the institution, they may also be referred to as care coordinators, case managers, service associates, or programme coordinators. In some instances, such work may also be undertaken directly by trained nurses. As at end 2020, there were around 360 staff with patient navigation roles, including trained nurses, across public acute hospitals and specialty centres on a full-time equivalent (FTE) basis.

Care coordination is one of the key domains under the Skills Framework for Healthcare (SFH) for nurses. This equips nurses with patient navigation skills to help coordinate healthcare staff to work collaboratively to deliver quality care to our patients. For example, the Community Nursing Pilot project led by our Regional Health Systems has developed the competencies and capacity of community nurses to support the healthcare needs of seniors in the community. As of end 2020, there were 124 community nurses under this pilot project.

As patient navigation can be performed by a combination of healthcare staff trained in care coordination, the ratios of staff to patients are determined by the respective institutions based on their workload and patients’ needs. Based on data from public acute hospitals and specialty centres, the number of staff with patient navigation roles has increased by three percent annually over the past three years (2018 to 2020).

Summary written by AI (learn more)

As of end 2020, there were about 360 full-time equivalent staff in patient navigation roles across public acute hospitals and specialty centres, including trained nurses.
The ratio of patient navigators to patients is determined by each institution based on workload and patient needs, with navigation roles being part of the nursing skills framework and sometimes performed by community nurses.
The number of staff in these roles has grown by 3% annually over the past three years (2018–2020), reflecting incremental adjustments rather than a specific target ratio.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Number and Sufficiency of Patient Navigators Employed across Restructured Hospitals and Specialty Centres | PAPERCUTS

Number and Sufficiency of Patient Navigators Employed across Restructured Hospitals and Specialty Centres

Debated in Parliament on 2 Feb 2021.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

As of end 2020, there were about 360 full-time equivalent staff in patient navigation roles across public acute hospitals and specialty centres, including trained nurses.
The ratio of patient navigators to patients is determined by each institution based on workload and patient needs, with navigation roles being part of the nursing skills framework and sometimes performed by community nurses.
The number of staff in these roles has grown by 3% annually over the past three years (2018–2020), reflecting incremental adjustments rather than a specific target ratio.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Full Transcript

Tan Wu Meng

Gan Kim Yong

Summary written by AI (learn more)

As of end 2020, there were about 360 full-time equivalent staff in patient navigation roles across public acute hospitals and specialty centres, including trained nurses.
The ratio of patient navigators to patients is determined by each institution based on workload and patient needs, with navigation roles being part of the nursing skills framework and sometimes performed by community nurses.
The number of staff in these roles has grown by 3% annually over the past three years (2018–2020), reflecting incremental adjustments rather than a specific target ratio.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Number and Sufficiency of Patient Navigators Employed across Restructured Hospitals and Specialty Centres

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Tan Wu Meng

Gan Kim Yong

Summary

Questions Identified

Number and Sufficiency of Patient Navigators Employed across Restructured Hospitals and Specialty Centres

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Tan Wu Meng

Gan Kim Yong

Summary

Questions Identified