Waiting Times for First and Follow-up Appointments to See Mental Health Professionals at Government Facilities
Ministry of HealthSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the waiting times for first and follow-up mental health appointments at government facilities and the effectiveness of alternative support. Miss Cheng Li Hui inquired about these durations and how patients are supported during the interim to stay on track with treatment. Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung reported that the 2020 median waiting time was 34 days for psychiatrists and 32 days for psychologists. He noted that a triage system ensures timely care based on urgency, with support extended through primary care, teleconsultations, and community teams. Finally, he cited that 63% of community intervention clients reported improved quality of life, alongside available resources like helplines and mindline.sg.
Transcript
64 Miss Cheng Li Hui asked the Minister for Health (a) what are the current average waiting times to seek a first appointment and follow-up appointment with a mental healthcare professional at any Government healthcare facility; and (b) whether the current alternative forms of support have been effective in helping patients faced with long waiting times to stay on track for their treatment.
Mr Ong Ye Kung: At the public hospitals, the median waiting time for a new subsidised appointment to see a psychiatrist was 34 days in 2020. The reported median waiting time for a new subsidised appointment with a psychologist was 32 days in 2020. Public hospitals employ a triage system to ensure that patients are seen in a timely manner based on the urgency of their condition. The interval for follow-up reviews varies from patient to patient and is based on the healthcare professional’s assessment of the patient and their needs.
Patients with mental health conditions can also receive care from primary care doctors, who are able to manage conditions, such as depression and anxiety, in the community. In the polyclinics, patients with mental health conditions will be cared for by a multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors, nurses and psychologists.
In addition to in-person consultations at hospitals, IMH offers teleconsultations to stable patients for outpatient reviews to facilitate easy access to care. There are also community-based care and support services, such as the community outreach teams and community intervention teams, which persons with mental health challenges can tap on. These teams have reached out to over 383,000 persons to provide mental health information and support, and 63% of clients who had completed care by the intervention teams have reported improvement in their quality of life.
Beyond the scheduled mental health appointments at healthcare facilities, persons in need of mental health care support, including crisis care, can access various mental health and counselling helplines operated by social service agencies, support groups and hospitals. Some of these include the National CARE Hotline, Samaritans of Singapore (SOS) 24-hour crisis hotline, IMH’s Mental Health Helpline and so on. There are also online resources available to support and empower individuals in mental health and self-care. For example, on mindline.sg, individuals can understand their state of emotional well-being via a self-assessment tool and access mental health resources and self-help tools on the website.