Debated in Parliament on 9 May 2016.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef asked the Minister for Health what is the Ministry's progress on initiatives pertaining to public-private partnerships and whether there are plans for a wider rollout.
Mdm Speaker, the Ministry of Health (MOH) recognises the private sector's role in meeting national healthcare needs. We have forged closer collaboration between the public and private sectors in recent years.
In primary care, MOH introduced the Community Health Assist Scheme (CHAS) in 2012 to strengthen our partnerships with general practitioners (GPs) and dental clinics in providing subsidised primary care for Pioneers and about half of Singaporean households. We now have about 900 GP clinics and 650 dental clinics participating in CHAS. Last year, 650,000 Singaporeans benefited from CHAS subsidies at these clinics. Under CHAS, our Regional Health Systems are working with the private sector to set up Family Medicine Clinics, which focus on chronic disease management.
Our GP partners have also stepped up their effort in times of need. More than 600 clinics supported the rollout of the Haze Subsidy Scheme when Singapore was faced with severe haze in 2013 and 2015.
For hospital care, MOH has worked with the private sector to provide subsidised care to our patients. One example is the Emergency Care Collaboration with Raffles Hospital since 2015. Patients can be sent to Raffles Hospital for emergency care, followed by inpatient or specialist outpatient care if required. Charges for Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents are similar to what they would pay at our public hospitals. Another example is the collaboration with Parkway Hospitals to receive dengue patients from Changi General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).
For intermediate residential care, our acute hospitals have been in close collaboration with our Community Hospitals run by voluntary welfare organisations (VWOs) on several fronts. One example is the collaboration between TTSH and Ren Ci Community Hospital (RCCH) to jointly develop clinical governance standards, care pathways, manpower capacity and capability to facilitate the transfer of patients between the institutions.
For long-term care, MOH has been working with the private sector to increase capacity to meet the needs of our ageing population. We have a portable subsidy scheme with up to 75% subsidy at participating private nursing homes. We work with private and VWO operators to operate aged care facilities, such as nursing homes and eldercare centres. We are also partnering VWO operators to enhance palliative care services. For example, we are providing funding support for the development of the new Assisi Hospice, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. And as part of this development, we are working with Assisi Hospice to expand its capacity for its inpatient, home and day hospice services so that more end-of-life patients can benefit.
As part of our healthcare transformation plans, MOH will continue to explore opportunities to work together with the private sector to provide quality subsidised care for Singaporeans.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef.
Assoc Prof Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade): I thank the Minister for the response. Can I just find out pertaining to the Raffles Hospital and public hospital collaborations so far, what has been the feedback from patients as well as their caregivers, and whether there is a discussion or review to extend the programme beyond office hours as well as to other emergency departments also?
Mdm Speaker, I thank the Member for her question. The collaboration with Raffles Hospital started since 2015. And during the first few months of the collaboration, there were some teething issues, including how to work with the SCDF paramedics so that they know how and where to send the patients to. But since then, the arrangement has worked out well. We have got good feedback from patients on their experiences at Raffles Hospital. This is feedback that we collected through surveys.
The arrangements with Raffles Hospital can also give us some good learning points that we can extend to other partnerships between public and private hospitals. And I think we can look at some of the suggestions that the Member has brought up, with the intent of seeing how we can work in collaboration with the private sector to provide good quality subsidised care for Singaporeans.
Order. End of Question Time.
[Pursuant to Standing Order No 22(3), provided that Members had not asked for questions standing in their names to be postponed to a later Sitting day or withdrawn, written answers to questions not reached by the end of Question Time are reproduced in the Appendix.]
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