Contingency Plans in Event of Closure of Private Clinic Groups Providing Government-subsidised Primary Care

Assoc Prof Daniel Goh Pei Siong asked the Minister for Health whether there are any private clinic groups providing Government-subsidised primary care that are considered too big to fail by the Ministry and what contingency plans for continuity of care does the Ministry have if any of these groups experience extended temporary closures that do not amount to ceasing operation, or let, sell or in any way dispose of its medical clinics.

There are many providers in our private primary care sector, comprising solo practitioners as well as medical practice groups of varying sizes. No single provider dominates the private primary care market.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) encourages clinics to keep their patients informed of temporary closures. If the closure is for an extended period, the clinic should refer their patients to other clinics appropriately to ensure continuity of care. In the event when the clinic is unable to refer patients out, MOH will facilitate the referrals to other clinics and polyclinic(s) in the area, if necessary. Regardless of whether the closure is temporary or permanent, MOH will work with affected clinic(s) to ensure continuity of care for patients.

Clinics are required to keep proper records of patient clinical information under the Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act. To facilitate better portability of such information, MOH is stepping up efforts to encourage more medical clinics to be linked to the National Electronic Health Records (NEHR) system, including through providing grants for general practitioner clinics to adopt GPConnect, an integrated information technology solution which provides seamless connection with NEHR.

In the event of a clinic sale or transfer, an application for transfer of licensee will have to be made to MOH no less than 30 days before the planned day of the sale or transfer. MOH will conduct inspections and other checks to ensure that the safety and quality of clinical care to patients will not be affected.