Ministry of Health Addendum to the President's Address

03 Nov 2006

By Mr Khaw Boon Wan, Minister for Health

Venue: Parliament

Our mission is to build a healthy nation of Singaporeans. Based on the principles of personal responsibility, early intervention, and integrated evidence-based health services, we work with the private and people sectors to ensure that high quality and appropriate healthcare is available and affordable to all.

KEEPING HEALTHCARE AFFORDABLE

Our healthcare financing framework ensures that Singaporeans can afford to pay for care. There will always be a social safety net for the poor through targeted Government subsidies and Medifund. Beyond this, healthcare is a shared responsibility between the individual and society.

Government will strengthen the 3Ms (Medisave, MediShield and Medifund) framework to address the concerns of (a) Singaporeans who worry if they get hit with high medical bills; (b) older Singaporeans whose Medisave has run out; and (c) Singaporean workers who do not have employers to help cover the costs of their outpatient care. We will also try to accommodate the desire of Singaporeans with substantial Medisave balances to use them for private healthcare.

 We will get Medisave to cover a greater share of costly medical care. If successful, the initial Medisave coverage for 4 chronic diseases at outpatient level will be progressively expanded to other chronic diseases.

We will expand the use of insurance for low-probability but large bills by further enhancing MediShield. MediShield policies with different scopes of coverage, deductibles and premiums will be developed to better suit individual needs. We will also partner employers, unions and insurance companies to improve medical benefits for workers.

We will take care of needy Singaporeans. We will build up Medifund as an effective safety net for the needy and review our financial support for intermediate and long-term care. Where the Budget permits, we will consider Medisave top-ups for low-wage workers through Workfare.

STRENGTHENING OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM THROUGH LONG-TERM AND INTEGRATED CARE

We presently deliver excellent care when people fall ill. We can improve further by partnering Singaporeans to look after their health and improving integration between healthcare providers across the spectrum - primary, step-down, acute; the private, public and people sectors.

Singaporeans must take responsibility for their health. We will develop programmes to support and empower Singaporeans to actively manage their illnesses, especially those with chronic diseases. National health promotion efforts will be complemented with more targeted programmes for at-risk groups.

We will support family physicians to deliver better primary and preventive care as they are the best and most trusted patient advocates and long-term care co-ordinators. We will promote stronger partnerships between family physicians and specialists to better manage the major illnesses afflicting Singaporeans.

We will review intermediate and long-term care for our ageing population. We will improve the quality of rehabilitation so people can return to independent and productive lives in the community. Government will support the training and deployment of professional and administrative manpower. We will encourage more private sector participation to improve performance and efficiency.

We will accelerate IT adoption across all healthcare providers. MOH will publish bill sizes, clinical outcomes and service standards, from public and private providers, so that patients can make better choices for themselves.

IMPROVING HEALTHCARE ACCESSIBILITY & SERVICE STANDARDS 

We will renew our healthcare infrastructure to meet the needs of our growing population. The new regional hospital in Yishun will open in 2009. We will rebuild the National Heart Centre and expand the National University Hospital, while opening new beds in existing hospitals to meet rising demand. Where appropriate, we will co-locate community hospitals with acute hospitals to improve integrated care. We will continue to pilot innovative infrastructure such as the newly opened Jurong Medical Centre.

We will deploy more quality manpower to improve service standards and clinical quality. We recognise that anxious patients and their families require attention and reassurance, and will improve workflow within our institutions and patient interaction skills of our front-line staff, particularly when communicating medical conditions and providing financial counseling.

PURSUING MEDICAL EXCELLENCE 

We will drive clinical quality improvements to advance patient safety. Excellent health services research will lead to evidence-based clinical improvements. Clinical outcomes will be tracked in electronic medical records.

The Ministry will also reinforce the culture of teaching and education that have made our public institutions icons of quality and progress.

The Government will invest in our professional and healthcare manpower - doctors, nurses and allied health professionals - so that we continue to deliver quality care to a growing population. New schools and courses will be provided locally. Continuing education and accreditation will cover more groups of professionals. We will review our regulatory frameworks to attract world-class foreign talent to Singapore. We will also encourage more private sector professionals to contribute to the people and public sectors.

To keep up with advances in biomedical science and develop new clinical treatments for Singaporeans, we will invest in clinical and translational research in partnership with A*STAR, MOE and the National Research Foundation. We will strengthen our supporting infrastructure by promoting academic medicine and strengthening our biomedical ethics regulations.

17. MOH will develop new programmes for our future healthcare needs. This includes a broader approach to elderly care, such as facilitating affordable solutions for ageing-in-place in the community. We should help our patients spend their final days and moments with their families in peace, comfort and dignity. We should acknowledge the limitation of medical science and address end-of-life issues based on good sense, realism and compassion, as the alternative of delaying the end will merely be at great physical, social and emotional costs to the patients and their families. We will also upgrade our mental health programme to make Singapore an emotionally resilient community with good access to effective mental health services.

TACKLING INFECTIOUS DISEASES

The Ministry remains vigilant to the threat of global infectious disease outbreaks. We will invest in a national public health laboratory, and partner the WHO and the international community to counter infectious diseases and keep Singapore safe. We will tackle emerging communicable diseases in our local population, such as HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases amongst youths.

SINGAPOREMEDICINE

19. As healthcare becomes more globalised, Singapore should leverage our reputation for quality and trusted medical care to re-position ourselves as the regional medical hub. We will collaborate with other government agencies and healthcare institutions to maximise our potential without compromising our core mission of delivering good quality and affordable healthcare to all Singaporeans.