Average Waiting Time at Accident and Emergency Department at Public Hospitals

Debated in Parliament on 8 Jul 2013.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

The Ministry of Health reported that median waiting times for non-life-threatening emergency cases across public hospitals were between 14 to 49 minutes in 2008 and improved to 15 to 29 minutes in 2012.
Measures to reduce waiting times include calibrating doctor and nurse shifts based on patient load, deploying staff from less busy areas to emergency departments, and improving support services like laboratory and radiological investigations.
To address bed availability and waiting times for admission, hospitals are renovating spaces to add bed capacity, deploying more staff, and working to discharge medically stable patients to free up beds, especially in response to the dengue situation.
Hospitals have been instructed to prioritize suspect and confirmed dengue cases returning to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours for timely attention.

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Full Transcript

Png Eng Huat

Mr Png Eng Huat asked the Minister for Health in the past five years (a) what is the average waiting time at the Accident and Emergency Department of each of our public hospitals; and (b) what are the measures taken to improve the waiting time given the current dengue situation.

Gan Kim Yong

Patients at the emergency departments (EDs) are prioritised and attended to based on the severity of their conditions. All life-threatening (P1) cases are attended to immediately. For emergency but non-life-threatening (P2) cases, the median waiting times across the EDs ranged between 14 and 49 minutes in 2008; and between 15 and 29 minutes in 2012.

For patients who required admissions, the median waiting time for admission ranged between 0.3 and 2.2 hours in 2008; and between 0.1 and 3.1 hours in 2012. Even while patients wait at the EDs for admission, medical teams continue to monitor them and institute appropriate investigations and treatments.

To reduce the waiting time to consultation, our hospitals increase manpower and improve processes to enhance efficiency. Such measures include calibrating the shifts of doctors and nurses based on anticipated patient load, deploying nurses from other work areas (for example, inpatient units) that are less busy to assist at the ED, and providing support services (for example. assisting with laboratory and radiological investigations).

The waiting time to admission is dependent on the overall bed availability at any point in time. In anticipation of the increase in dengue cases, MOH has worked with hospitals to renovate suitable spaces within hospital campuses to inject new bed capacity, including temporary capacity, and deployed more nurses and doctors to staff the added capacity. Hospitals also actively review and work with the Agency for Integrated Care to discharge patients who are medically stable to long-term care facilities to free up hospital beds for those in need.

Hospitals have also been informed that suspect and confirmed cases of dengue who return to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours should be appropriately prioritised for attention.

Page: 150

Summary written by AI (learn more)

The Ministry of Health reported that median waiting times for non-life-threatening emergency cases across public hospitals were between 14 to 49 minutes in 2008 and improved to 15 to 29 minutes in 2012.
Measures to reduce waiting times include calibrating doctor and nurse shifts based on patient load, deploying staff from less busy areas to emergency departments, and improving support services like laboratory and radiological investigations.
To address bed availability and waiting times for admission, hospitals are renovating spaces to add bed capacity, deploying more staff, and working to discharge medically stable patients to free up beds, especially in response to the dengue situation.
Hospitals have been instructed to prioritize suspect and confirmed dengue cases returning to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours for timely attention.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Average Waiting Time at Accident and Emergency Department at Public Hospitals | PAPERCUTS

Average Waiting Time at Accident and Emergency Department at Public Hospitals

Debated in Parliament on 8 Jul 2013.

Summary written by AI (learn more)

The Ministry of Health reported that median waiting times for non-life-threatening emergency cases across public hospitals were between 14 to 49 minutes in 2008 and improved to 15 to 29 minutes in 2012.
Measures to reduce waiting times include calibrating doctor and nurse shifts based on patient load, deploying staff from less busy areas to emergency departments, and improving support services like laboratory and radiological investigations.
To address bed availability and waiting times for admission, hospitals are renovating spaces to add bed capacity, deploying more staff, and working to discharge medically stable patients to free up beds, especially in response to the dengue situation.
Hospitals have been instructed to prioritize suspect and confirmed dengue cases returning to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours for timely attention.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Full Transcript

Png Eng Huat

Gan Kim Yong

Hospitals have also been informed that suspect and confirmed cases of dengue who return to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours should be appropriately prioritised for attention.

Page: 150

Summary written by AI (learn more)

The Ministry of Health reported that median waiting times for non-life-threatening emergency cases across public hospitals were between 14 to 49 minutes in 2008 and improved to 15 to 29 minutes in 2012.
Measures to reduce waiting times include calibrating doctor and nurse shifts based on patient load, deploying staff from less busy areas to emergency departments, and improving support services like laboratory and radiological investigations.
To address bed availability and waiting times for admission, hospitals are renovating spaces to add bed capacity, deploying more staff, and working to discharge medically stable patients to free up beds, especially in response to the dengue situation.
Hospitals have been instructed to prioritize suspect and confirmed dengue cases returning to emergency departments within 24 to 48 hours for timely attention.

Questions identified by AI (learn more)

Average Waiting Time at Accident and Emergency Department at Public Hospitals

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Png Eng Huat

Gan Kim Yong

Summary

Questions Identified

Average Waiting Time at Accident and Emergency Department at Public Hospitals

Summary

Questions Identified

Full Transcript

Png Eng Huat

Gan Kim Yong

Summary

Questions Identified