Debated in Parliament on 28 Feb 2024.
Mr Yip Hon Weng asked the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry will consider reviewing the Healthcare Services Act 2020 to enhance the recognition and regulation of mental health professionals, such as registered psychologists, to reflect the growing need for accessible mental healthcare services; and (b) whether the review can include allowing mental health professionals to use the terms "doctors" and "treatment" under ethical guidelines and within their scope of practice to encourage people to seek treatment for mental health conditions.
Mr Speaker, Sir, psychological practice is evolving given the increasing importance of mental health and encompasses diverse fields with their own unique patient safety concerns. The Ministry of Health (MOH) is working with agencies, service providers and professional associations to update the risk assessment. This includes determining if there is a need for registration of psychologists to better support the safety and quality of the practice.
The advertising controls under the Healthcare Services Act, or HCSA, were put in place to provide greater transparency and protect consumers from being misled by healthcare advertisements which misrepresent the services provided. The restrictions on the use of the term “treat” applies to all non-HCSA licensees, and not just standalone psychology service providers. Likewise, the protection of the title “doctor” applies to all non-registered healthcare practitioners and not just clinical psychologists. MOH is presently engaging with the psychologists and their association to clarify the proper use of these terms.
Mr Yip.
Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Minister of State for the reply. Given the growing importance of mental health professionals, will MOH consider expanding the role of such professionals, such as psychologists, beyond direct patient care, such as allowing them to participate in policy development or research initiatives?
Sir, I thank Mr Yip for his question. The current licensing and regulatory structure, as well as any potential review, does not in any way change the possibility for these professionals to be involved in policy development or for them to be involved in research. So, the issues are to do with consumer protection, regulation of clinical practice. Today, Allied Health Professionals, including psychologists and other healthcare professionals can and do participate in policy development – some of them are employed directly through MOH or some of its entities, some of them come and sit on our panels and our consultative entities and they already participate in research. And the protections around research are afforded by the academic institutions as well as the funding bodies that are supporting the research and none of that should change on the basis of the review that we are conducting, which, as I said, is focused on consumer protection and clinical practice.
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