Average Waiting Time at A&E Department at Each Public Hospital

19 Mr Muhamad Faisal Bin Abdul Manap asked the Minister for Health in each year from 2013, what is the average waiting time at the Accident and Emergency Department of each of our public hospitals for (i) emergency but non-life-threatening cases and (ii) admission to the hospital.

Mr 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 averaged about 23 minutes, 22 minutes, 18 minutes and 17 minutes in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

For patients who required admissions, the median waiting time for admission averaged about two hours, 2.3 hours, two hours and 1.6 hours in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 respectively.

Our hospitals have protocols to ensure care is not compromised despite high demand for ED services. Even while patients wait at the EDs for admission, medical teams continue to monitor them and institute appropriate investigations and treatments.