Ensuring High Retention Rates for Doctors in Public Healthcare System

Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the strategies to ensure high retention rates for doctors in the public healthcare system, particularly those who are locally trained; (b) how does the Ministry ensure adequate staffing levels across essential medical specialties and sub-specialties with consideration for their work-life balance; and (c) with an ageing population, whether there is a need to increase recruitment of specialists from overseas, particularly surgeons, to meet the growing demand for their services.

Public sector doctors, including specialists, are constantly subject to the lure of the private sector. However, many have chosen a career in public sector because of its mission, the learning and research opportunities. As a result, we have been able to retain the talent we need, with the attrition rate of doctors in public healthcare consistent at about 3% to 5% in recent years.

Currently, we have a healthy pipeline of specialists to meet our healthcare needs. However, there are some specialties or disciplines with increased demand due to the evolving care needs of an ageing population, such as Family Medicine Geriatric Medicine, Internal Medicine and Rehabilitation Medicine, and we have progressively increased training numbers in these areas in recent years.

We have worked with our hospitals and Institutes of Higher Learning to expand the local medical school intakes and will also continue to attract back Singaporeans who are trained in these areas overseas, and complement the medical workforce in our hospitals with foreign doctors, where appropriate.