Sufficiency of Number of Nurses at Public Hospitals

Ms Joan Pereira asked the Minister for Health whether there is currently a shortage of nurses in the public hospitals and, if so, what are the hospitals doing to address the shortage and ensure that the well-being of our patients is not compromised.

Nurses form the largest professional group in our healthcare workforce. Our overall registered nurse to population ratio of around 7.5 nurses per 1,000 population in 2018, is comparable to that in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

Seven out of 10 of our practising nurses work in the public healthcare sector. In tandem with our expansion in public healthcare capacity, the number of nurses working in the public healthcare sector has increased from around 21,700 in 2013 to 25,600 in 2018.

To meet future demand for healthcare services in an aging population, we have expanded efforts to attract more Singaporeans to join nursing as well as to develop and retain serving nurses.

Some examples include (i) Raising the profile of nursing, such as through the Care to Go Beyond Campaign; (ii) Creating multiple pathways for mid-career professionals entering the profession, including professional conversion programmes; (iii) Raising the capacity and range of nursing training courses; (iv) Reviewing nurses’ remuneration to remain competitive; (v) And improving career recognition and progression.

To ensure that the nursing workforce is sustainable, we have also embarked on efforts to raise productivity. These include initiatives on automation, streamlining of nursing work, and shifting of care from hospitals into the community where appropriate.

The Ministry of Health will continue to regularly review our nursing manpower needs, taking into consideration demographic and disease trends. We will also continue to work with educational and training institutions and healthcare providers to ensure that we have a nursing workforce that can serve the needs of Singaporeans.