Eldercare Facilities

9 July 2012

Question No. 237

Name of person: Mr Muhamad Faisal Abdul Manap

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry can release an eldercare facilities masterplan to show Singaporeans where eldercare facilities will be built in every precinct; (b) what are the criteria used in siting eldercare facilities and whether these are explained to residents; (c) what consultative time frame and procedure has the Ministry put in place to engage residents; and (d) whether the Ministry will request the URA to share its best practices given its recent success on consultation with the Dairy Farm estate.

Answer

1.                 To meet the anticipated increase in social and healthcare needs that come with an ageing society, MOH has been working with the various government agencies to identify suitable sites for different types of eldercare facilities. We will consider releasing the proposed locations of these facilities when we are ready to do so. We will also continually plan for new facilities as the demographics and needs evolve over time.

2.                 Our plan is to develop a network of eldercare facilities distributed across the island and located within various residential areas, so as to better serve seniors and their caregivers and help seniors age within the community. When planning for such facilities, we take into consideration the demographics, the capacity of existing eldercare facilities as well as site availability in the different areas. We take into account inputs from the relevant government agencies, such as, inter alia, land use, traffic impact, and the availability of infrastructure and utilities, in studying the feasibility of each site. These considerations are shared with residents when we engage them on the proposed development of eldercare facilities.

3.                 Engagement and consultation is an iterative process. Once a suitable site is found, we seek the comments from the respective Member of Parliament (MP) and grassroots leaders and incorporate their inputs in the proposal. We then work with the MPs and grassroots leaders to engage the residents, usually a few months before any actual work on the ground commences. These engagements, which can involve both written briefs of the proposed development as well as dialogues, allow us an opportunity to explain in detail the proposed development to residents and to discuss their concerns and suggestions. Through this process, we can also improve the concept or design of the proposed development, so that it can serve residents even better or reduce any potential disamenities to the surrounding areas.