Hospitals.SG

The Ministry of Health commissioned a survey on opinions of Singapore's public/restructured hospitals and polyclinics during the later part of last year.

The latest annual Patient Satisfaction Survey, done independently by Media Research Consultants Pte Ltd, tabulated patients' opinions in terms of satisfaction with services, as well as their willingness to recommend those hospitals/clinics to others.

The Singapore Government has announced plans for a new general hospital in the Jurong region. To be built near the Jurong East town centre in the open land parcels between Boon Lay Way and Jurong East Street 21 (near IMM mall), the Jurong General Hospital (working name) will be opened in 2015.

The new 550-bed hospital will provide acute inpatient and outpatient care, and will be co-sited with a community hospital (200 beds). This follows a similar model to that of Changi General Hospital (CGH) and St. Andrew's Community Hospital in Simei in the eastern region of Singapore.

The government has announced a set of changes to the Medisave/Medishield scheme. From 1 December, the medical insurance scheme Medishield's premiums will be raised together with increased claim limits.

In July 2007, the Singapore Parliament passed the Optometrists & Opticians Act to regulate the Optometry and Opticianry industry in Singapore. An Optometrists and Opticians Board was set up to perform this function. The Act was slated to come into force on 1 Jan 2008.

Under the Act, all optometrists and opticians needs to be registered with the Board to continue practising as an optician or optometrist in Singapore. The Board will determine and regulate the conduct and ethics of optometrists and opticians, and issue guidelines on standards of practice.

As announced by the Ministry of Health in February 2007, Singapore will allow cancer patients to use their Medisave accounts to pay for outpatient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computerized axial tomography (CT/CAT) and positron emission tomography (PET) scans prescribed by their doctors. Up to $600 per year can be used for such scans. The change takes effect from 1 April 2008. Before this, patients may only use Medisave to pay their bills when such diagnostic scans are part of inpatient hospitalization treatments.

In his closing speech in Parliament on January 21, 2008, the Minister of Health Khaw Boon Wan summarised the recent amendment to the Human Organ Transplant Act (HOTA) which will see all Muslim citizens and permanent residents from age 21 to 60 being included under the Act from August 1, 2008.

As of December 1, 2007, all Singaporean babies (whose births are registered on or after that date) will be covered by the governement's Medishield medical insurance scheme. Children of Singapore permanent residents, who are born in Singapore and whose permanent residency are registered here on or after December 1 will also be covered by the scheme. The programme is on an opt-out basis and basic coverage cost of S$30 per year will be borne by the father's Medisave account.

The Ministry of Health will also target to include children and youths in the Medishield scheme:

The Eldershield disability insurance scheme, which was initiated by the Singapore government in 2002, will undergo changes in September 2007. Before this, the programme provided a monthly payout of $300 for up to 60 months (5 years) to severely disabled elderly persons who, due to accidents or illnesses, became incapable of simple daily activities.

From September 2007, the scheme will be reformed with the following changes:

The Singapore government will, from 1 Oct 2007, recognize an additional 19 overseas medical schools. Singaporeans and foreigners who graduate from these medical schools are eligible to register to practice medicine in Singapore.

The 19 new additions, which will bring the total number of recognized foreign institutions to 159^#1, are listed below.

• China
  • Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), Tsinghua University
  • Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine