Healthcare Workers Suffering from Mental Health Problems since Outbreak of COVID-19 and Social Support System in Place to Ensure Their Psychological Well-being

5 Dr Wan Rizal asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the current percentage of healthcare workers suffering from mental health problems due to increased workload and stressful work environment since the outbreak of COVID-19; and (b) whether there is an adequate and effective social support system in place to ensure the psychological well-being of our healthcare workers.

Mr Gan Kim Yong: Mental health conditions are often multifactorial and it is often not possible to isolate a single cause. As such, we are not able to provide data on the percentage of healthcare workers who suffer from mental health conditions specifically due to increased workload from the COVID-19 outbreak. Nevertheless, our public healthcare institutions will actively reach out to staff who have expressed concerns regarding their mental well-being and provide support to help them cope with stress and burnout from increased workload.

Our public healthcare institutions provide staff with counselling services, staff helplines, and peer support programmes. To help staff cope with stressful situations, some institutions have also rolled out bite-sized training modules on stress management and regularly shared mental health tips with their staff.

The Ministry will continue to work closely with our public healthcare institutions to monitor and introduce timely measures to enhance staff well-being.