Data on Junior Doctors Who Served During COVID-19 Pandemic and Have Been Rotated Out or Did Not Receive Resilience Medal
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the awarding of the COVID-19 Resilience Medal to junior doctors who served in public healthcare institutions or transitioned to National Service during the pandemic. Dr Tan Wu Meng enquired about the reasons some doctors were excluded from the awards despite their rotations and significant contributions to the pandemic response. Minister Ong Ye Kung explained that many were initially missed because their training rotations prevented them from being nominated by a single employing organisation. He stated that the Ministry of Health is working with MOH Holdings to nominate additional healthcare workers, including those who subsequently re-enlisted for National Service. The Minister confirmed that an updated list of awardees will be published in the latter half of 2024 to recognize these individuals.
Transcript
98 Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Health (a) how many junior doctors of House Officer or Medical Officer grade served at the public healthcare institutions (PHIs) during the COVID-19 pandemic; (b) of these, how many have been rotated among different PHIs; (c) of those who later left the PHIs amidst the pandemic to serve full-time National Service commitments, how many have been then deployed as SAF Medical Officers; and (d) how many of such doctors did not receive the COVID-19 Resilience Medal and what are the reasons.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: Many Junior Doctors, including House Officers, Medical Officers and Residents, are employed by the Ministry of Health Holdings (MOHH) and rotated through our public healthcare institutions (PHIs), including during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The bulk of Junior Doctors who served during the pandemic have been awarded the COVID-19 Resilience Medal (CRM). However, many were also not nominated by their employing organisations because they were not in a single place of practice throughout the pandemic.
We recognise that many of these Junior Doctors who were on rotation as part of their training had also contributed significantly to our pandemic response, and the Ministry of Health has worked with MOHH to review and nominate additional healthcare workers for CRM. Other than Junior Doctors on rotation, Medical Officers who had served in our PHIs but subsequently re-enlisted for National Service during the pandemic period have also been nominated. The updated list of awardees will be published in the latter half of 2024.