Govt find ways to integrate pte & public sector healthcare
-
SINGAPORE: The growing number of doctors switching over to private practice - with some not even serving out their bonds - has raised some concern.
The government is now exploring a more sustainable framework to involve them in public sector healthcare.
Deputy Prime Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said this at a dinner to celebrate the anniversary of private healthcare provider Raffles Medical Group.
40 percent of specialists in Singapore are now in private practice, but most Singaporeans still rely on public sector care.
And the concern is that given the ageing population, there will not be enough doctors in the public sector to meet the healthcare needs.
Mr Tharman, who is also the Finance and Manpower Minister, said solutions have to be found to avoid the situation from being a "zero-sum game".
He said private doctors could conduct medical training or treat subsidised patients.
But he said the public sector will remain the anchor of the healthcare system in Singapore.
The Health Ministry is also reviewing its financing, incentives, regulation frameworks and clinical programmes to better integrate private and public healthcare services.
Mr Tharman said costs will remain affordable for both patients and tax payers, especially those in the middle-income groups.
"Improving healthcare for Singaporeans must involve both the public and private sectors. They both comprise our national healthcare system. This means a shared responsibility to meet the needs of our people and ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system as a whole. We need all hands on deck to manage the healthcare challenges of the future," he said.
Integration could involve the sharing of electronic medical records.
The next phase of the National Electronic Health Record system will involve community hospitals, general practitioners and eventually nursing homes, and Mr Tharman said it is worth exploring how private hospitals could be roped in too.
Mr Tharman also called on practitioners to sustain the values of the medical profession, and said that patients' interests and safety must always come first.
"It is therefore critical, even with business playing a legitimate role in medical practice, that we guard against any drift from the time-honoured values and ethics of the profession. Singapore's reputation for medical excellence is a collective honour and responsibility, and I hope to see the medical leadership across the country coming together to sustain this," he said.
- CNA/ir -
public sector's training ground
pte sector's tai lang bang huey (kill people put fire)
-
so combine is...
training to tai lang bang huey
-
What do you expect the doctors to do when from young, we were told to study hard so that we can be doctors and lawyers to make BIG BUCKS OF MONEY.
If you want the Western Medicine Doctors to to understand "Ren Ci" , then Western Medicine should include the "ren Ci" of Chinese Medicine , which in turn if doctors cannot charge high fee ,example from private practice, then parents and schools and society will not encourage to join highly paid profession anymore.
-
the strategy is to dig from sick people the money ..and rather than to go pte pockets ...so better to channel it to public.....since it is so lucrative...
anything that becomes lucrative...it will be controlled....can't u see it?
-
Is this just another way of telling the public that medical costs will be going up again?
-
Originally posted by Sly134:
What do you expect the doctors to do when from young, we were told to study hard so that we can be doctors and lawyers to make BIG BUCKS OF MONEY.
If you want the Western Medicine Doctors to to understand "Ren Ci" , then Western Medicine should include the "ren Ci" of Chinese Medicine , which in turn if doctors cannot charge high fee ,example from private practice, then parents and schools and society will not encourage to join highly paid profession anymore.
ya lor... so why they dun increase the no. of singaporean doctor leh...increase the singapoeran locally trained.. dun only say 6A also cannot get in...and by pay Foreigner scholarship to come sg to study leh.. why dun pay singaporean to go overseas to study medicine if they say NUS can only train a certain no. of doctor each yr?? ..... flood the market with alot of doctor.. then the cost will come down lor..be a doctor to save ppl not to be rich... just like becoming mp.... knn.... how screwed will be the thinking of our next generation if we continued to teach them all the wrong thnigs....