Number of Young People Seeking Help with Institute of Mental Health and Need for Second Mental Health Hospital
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong’s inquiry about the rising number of youths seeking mental health help at the Institute of Mental Health and the potential for a second specialized hospital. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung noted that while youth outpatient attendances rose by 6% in 2021 compared to 2019, inpatient admissions decreased by 14.5% and emergency attendances remained stable. He highlighted existing resources like REACH teams in schools, community assessment teams, and psychiatric services available at several public hospitals such as NUH, KKH, CGH, and KTPH. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung shared that the National University Health System will expand psychiatric services at the new Alexandra Hospital to include inpatient care and adolescent outpatient services. He concluded that there are no current plans for a second psychiatric hospital, emphasizing that mental health issues are not always best addressed through inpatient acute care admission.
Transcript
29 Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong asked the Minister for Health (a) whether there has been an increase in the number of young people seeking help for mental health issues in the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) in the past year; and (b) if so, whether the establishment of a second hospital specialising in mental health will be considered and evaluated by the Inter-agency Taskforce on Mental Health and Well-Being.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: The number of outpatient attendances by youths1 at IMH in 2021 increased by 6%, while inpatient admissions decreased by 14.5%, compared to pre-pandemic baseline in 20192. There was no significant change in the number of emergency psychiatric attendances by youths over the same period.
MOH has developed various mental health services catering to youths: Multidisciplinary Response, Early Intervention and Assessment in Community Mental Health (REACH) teams provide mental health support to students in school. Outside school, the Community Youth Mental Health Teams and Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT) reached out to at-risk youths in the community, provide them with mental health assessments, and links them to appropriate resources and services for further support. Youths may also tap on counselling services and helplines offered by various National Council of Social Services (NCSS) organisations. All acute hospitals are able to provide general psychiatric screening for children and youths with psychiatric conditions, and selected public hospitals, such as NUH, KKH, CGH and KTPH provide child and adolescent outpatient psychiatric services.
The National University Health System (NUHS) will be developing a wider scope of psychiatric services at the new Alexandra Hospital. These will include inpatient beds for acute and sub-acute psychiatric care and rehabilitation, as well as Child and Adolescent Psychiatry outpatient services.
There is no plan at this juncture to develop a second psychiatric hospital. We should understand that not all illnesses, including mental health issues, are always best addressed by an inpatient admission to an acute care hospital.