Expanding Paediatric and Geriatric Inpatient Care Services at Regional Hospitals
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim’s inquiry regarding plans to expand paediatric and geriatric inpatient care services at regional hospitals to better support local demographic needs. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung clarified that multidisciplinary geriatric services are currently available at all public acute hospitals to provide holistic care for elderly patients. He stated that paediatric inpatient capacity at specialized and private hospitals remains adequate for current birth trends while ensuring specialists maintain clinical expertise for complex cases. The Minister noted that outpatient satellite paediatric clinics are planned for Sengkang, Ng Teng Fong, and Woodlands hospitals, with child development clinics available islandwide. Additionally, General Practitioners and community paediatricians continue to manage common conditions, providing a broad base of ambulatory care for children.
Transcript
13 Assoc Prof Jamus Jerome Lim asked the Coordinating Minister for Social Policies and Minister for Health whether there are plans to expand the suite of (i) paediatric and (ii) geriatric services offered at regional hospitals, in particular to address limited inpatient care services in such hospitals, to better support the demographic distribution of young and old households in such towns.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: Geriatric medicine services are available in all public acute hospitals. It is provided by multidisciplinary teams to ensure holistic care for elderly patients.
The planning of hospital-based paediatric services is guided by clinical considerations and demographic trends, which drive demand. Given birth trends and our demography, the KK Women and Children's Hospital (KKH) and the National University Hospital (NUH), and private hospitals, such as Thomson Medical and Mount Alvernia, are adequate to serve the needs of our population. This also ensures sufficient case volume for paediatric specialists to maintain their expertise and provide treatment with good outcomes, particularly for children with rare or more complex conditions.
In addition, General Practitioners are trained to manage a wide range of common ambulatory medical conditions in children, supported by community-based paediatricians. KKH and NUH have also planned for outpatient satellite paediatric clinic services to be sited in some of our regional hospitals, such as Sengkang General Hospital, Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Woodlands Hospital. Ambulatory child development clinics are also available islandwide.