Hospital Visits to Severely Ill Patients in Hospitals and Care Homes

NOTICE PAPER NO. 984

NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER

FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 18 FEBRUARY 2022

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament

Mr Leon Perera

MP for Aljunied GRC

Question No. 2554

To ask the Minister for Health with regard to hospital visits to severely ill patients in hospitals and care homes, whether the Ministry will consider (i) empowering healthcare professionals with some discretion as to visitation policies on compassionate grounds on a case-by-case basis if this is not already the case and (ii) requiring hospitals and care homes to make ART test kits available for sale to visitors.

Answer

In-person visits to hospital wards and residential care homes (“Homes”) are suspended from 24 January to 20 March 2022 to protect healthcare capacity.   Hospitals and Homes have the discretion to allow visits for exceptional cases, for example if the patient/resident is severely ill. MOH had made exceptions for severely ill patients in hospitals to have up to five pre-registered visitors.

Visitors who are allowed into hospital wards and Homes on an exceptional basis will need to produce a valid negative antigen rapid test (ART) result obtained within the last 24 hours of the visit, prior to their visit. Fully vaccinated visitors are allowed to show photographic proof of the result of a self-administered ART done at home prior to the visit. Such hospital visitors who have not done the test before the visit will be able to purchase ART kits from vending machines or the retail pharmacies at public hospitals.