GPs form front line of healthcare in community

MOH's reply

Straits Times, 15 September 2016

GPs form front line of healthcare in community

We agree with Mr Li Ze Zong ("GPs can go beyond being 'jack of all trades'"; 9 September) that general practitioners play a critical role in our healthcare sector.

GPs, being our front-line doctors in the community, are often the first to pick up emerging infectious diseases, and constitute a critical part of the Ministry of Health's (MOH) multi-pronged surveillance system.

Rather than being "jacks of all trades", GPs are experts in clinical breadth, which is most crucial for doctors who provide the first line of care in the community.

GPs are also our first and continuous line of care, providing holistic and personalised care for patients of different age groups.

They treat acute conditions such as upper respiratory tract infections, manage chronic illnesses such as diabetes, and keep the population healthy through preventive measures such as targeted health screening.

In addition, GPs can coordinate patients' care with other providers and help patients navigate the healthcare system when they require more specialised medical attention.

As the disease burden and complexity increase with our ageing population, the role of GPs will continue to evolve and expand to remain relevant to a wide spectrum of patients with varying and increasingly complex medical needs.

Recognising this, MOH has introduced training subsidies to encourage more GPs to undergo postgraduate training in family medicine to be upskilled in managing more complex chronic conditions.

In addition, we have developed community health centres to provide GPs with support services to complement their role in anchoring good chronic disease management.

Our GPs have also been active in ground-up initiatives, such as the Primary Care Network, where GPs from different clinics have organised themselves into a network to share services such as nurse counselling.

Through the Community Health Assist Scheme, more than 950 GPs offer accessible and subsidised care to patients.

These initiatives and support aim to further empower our GPs in providing quality care for Singaporeans.

MOH will continue to work closely with the primary care community to achieve our vision of One Singaporean, One Family Doctor, in which all Singaporeans will have a regular family doctor to address their healthcare needs holistically. 

Lim Bee Khim (Ms)
Director, Corporate Communications
Ministry of Health 

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Forum Letter

Straits Times, 9 September 2016

GPs can go beyond being 'jack of all trades'

With the recent sudden outbreaks of tuberculosis and Zika, we can see that general practitioners play an even more important role than infection specialists in the initial detection and reporting of communicable diseases ("Family docs the gatekeepers of community's well-being" by the College of Family Physicians Singapore; 2 September).

Raising an early red flag is absolutely critical to the successful containment of a potential outbreak. For every GP who receives praise in the news for his vigilance in detecting a disease outbreak, there are hundreds of others working diligently behind the scenes to pick up the next case of dengue, measles or pneumonia.

In line with the Ministry of Health's mission of right-siting the delivery of care, GPs have been shouldering a larger share of patients with conditions such as high cholesterol, diabetes and hypertension.

In view of the escalating global threat of communicable and non-communicable diseases, and considering our rapidly ageing population, one can say that the role of GPs here needs to evolve - from being a "jack of all trades" to one specialising in three main areas, namely non-communicable diseases, communicable diseases and vaccination, and caring for the elderly. There should be consideration on how to upskill current and future GPs so they can expertly manage these areas.

Most importantly, Singaporeans have to recognise and appreciate that GPs are the real guardians in keeping us healthy and out of hospital.

Li Ze Zong