Ministry of Health

The Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong): The Ministry of Health’s (MOH's) vision is for all Singaporeans to live well and live long, with peace of mind. To achieve this, we are embarking on major shifts in our healthcare system to move Beyond Healthcare to Health, Beyond Hospital to Community, and Beyond Quality to Value; and to promote and enable Successful Ageing in Singapore.

MOH's first priority is to help Singaporeans stay healthy. We have promoted healthier food and lifestyle choices, encouraged disease screening, and declared War on Diabetes. We will expand these efforts and embark on new ones to move towards the goal of developing health promoting communities. Singaporeans will be empowered through information, technology and smart behavioural nudges to eat healthily, keep active and take charge of their health, while industries and employers will be encouraged to provide supportive environments for healthy behaviour. We will also explore measures to further discourage unhealthy habits, such as smoking and excessive sugar consumption.

To continue to safeguard public health in Singapore in the face of increased globalisation and emergence of new diseases, MOH will enhance our surveillance, preparedness and response on infectious diseases. The upcoming National Centre for Infectious Diseases will serve as a focal point for these efforts. MOH will also lead in the implementation of a National Anti-Microbial Resistance Plan to prevent the emergence and spread of drug-resistant micro-organisms.

Even as we build more hospital capacity with the completion of Sengkang General and Community Hospitals this year, we need to strengthen our primary care foundation by building new polyclinics, expanding existing ones, and establishing more Primary Care Networks comprising general practitioners. Our hospitals will also partner primary care and community care providers to bring about seamless care for patients. A new Healthcare Services legislation will be enacted to enhance regulatory clarity, strengthen governance and safeguard patient safety and welfare. The National Electronic Health Record will improve the continuity of care for patients.

Beyond increasing capacity, we will transform care models. The new MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation will work with healthcare institutions to experiment with innovative and potentially game-changing concepts. New models will be tested, with successful ones scaled up. We will also deepen our efforts to develop Regional Health Systems, which will spearhead the development of new capabilities, such as community nursing and successful programmes that shift the nexus of care beyond the hospital to the community. We will selectively deploy regulatory sandboxes to facilitate experimentation in new services and innovative care models while ensuring patient safety.

MOH will review healthcare financing policies to support new care models and to better integrate care in the community. This includes more targeted Government subsidies to better direct support towards those in greater need, as well as timely and appropriate changes to MediShield Life and to MediSave usage and coverage.

Beyond ensuring good quality care, we will strive towards helping Singaporeans make better choices. To support healthcare professionals, patients and the public in making more informed and appropriate decisions, the Agency for Care Effectiveness will expand their range of education, advisory products and programmes beyond Drug Guidances and Appropriate Care Guides. To encourage more appropriate consumption of healthcare, MOH will publish fee benchmarks for medical procedures and services and has also introduced co-payment requirements for new Integrated Shield Plan Riders.

We will continue our push for productivity improvements. A new agency will be set up to consolidate the procurement and supply chain functions across our public healthcare clusters. This will bring about better economies of scale and enable us to develop new models and capabilities that improve efficiency and benefit patients. MOH is also working with public hospitals to share information and practices that can enhance patient outcomes while managing costs. Such a value-driven care approach would help raise and maintain clinical quality across our hospitals in a cost-effective manner.

We will press on with the implementation of the Action Plan for Successful Ageing. This includes efforts to expand community-based care facilities and experiment with new forms of housing for more accessible care. We will develop social nodes in the community to bring active ageing, preventive health, functional health screening and other programmes to the doorsteps of seniors. The formation of the Silver Generation Office and nationwide expansion of the Community Networks for Seniors will further facilitate better integration of health and social services and encourage more Singaporeans to volunteer and contribute towards successful ageing efforts. We will complete the review of ElderShield and strengthen the social safety net for long-term care.

MOH will continue to build a strong local pipeline of healthcare professionals. We will create good job opportunities for Singaporeans in the growing healthcare sector and enable our healthcare workforce to stay relevant through skills upgrading. For nurses, who constitute the largest group in our healthcare workforce, we will invest in a comprehensive Continuing Education and Training system and, in particular, build up capabilities for nurse-led, community-based care.

We will update and align our Health Information Technology (IT) Master Plan to our priorities. We will leverage new developments in data analytics, artificial intelligence, robotics and other technological fields to transform how we work and deliver care. We will also continue to invest in health and biomedical research that can yield benefits for Singaporeans and our healthcare system.

The transformation of our healthcare system will only be possible with the combined efforts of public and private healthcare institutions, voluntary welfare organisations and other agencies. It would require the involvement of patients, healthcare professionals, healthcare insurers, employers and the Government. MOH will facilitate participation and collaboration among all stakeholders.

We are confident that our plans will help Singaporeans stay healthy and active at all ages, while ensuring that quality healthcare remains accessible, affordable and sustainable. Together, we can achieve Better Health, Better Care and Better Life for all.