Debated in Parliament on 14 Feb 2023.
Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Health (a) how many of the hospitals in Singapore currently practice continuous monitoring of vital signs on babies who are admitted to its neonatal intensive care units and special care nurseries; and (b) whether other hospitals, apart from KKH, intend to also review and enhance its monitoring procedures for newborns, in particular those born premature or with medical conditions.
Mr Speaker, continuous monitoring of vital signs is routinely performed for all infants admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in all acute hospitals with neonatal care services.
In addition to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and the National University Hospital are also reviewing and enhancing their monitoring measures for higher risk infants, who are not admitted to the NICU but may benefit from closer monitoring.
Ms Hany Soh.
I thank Senior Minister of State Janil for his response. Apart from enhancing the monitoring procedures, I hope that the Ministry of Health can also consider having a standard operating procedure in place whereby the hospitals are providing neonatal parental support where it is automatically activated to ensure that the helpless parents are assured of the procedures that will be in place and the essential resources available to assist them.
I thank the Member for her suggestion. It will be considered.
PAPERCUTS