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Tag: Ministry of Health

  • GPFirst Programme Cuts Waiting Time At Changi General Hospital’s A&E By 7 Minutes

    GPFirst Programme Cuts Waiting Time At Changi General Hospital’s A&E By 7 Minutes

    The average waiting time for slightly more serious conditions at Changi General Hospital’s (CGH) Accident and Emergency (A&E) department has shortened by about seven minutes, thanks to the GPFirst Programme which launched last year.

    The waiting time was calculated at 29 minutes in January 2014 and 22 minutes in December of the same year.

    The GPFirst Programme encourages patients to first visit their General Practitioner (GP) clinic by offering a S$50 discount off the emergency department fee if they do so. Since the launch of the programme, about 3,800 patients have been referred to CGH’s A&E.

    60 per cent of clinics located in the east are on the programme. Of these, 90 per cent have used the mobile application “GPFirst Aide”. The application provides convenient access to information which has helped some GPs reduce consultation time by about 20 per cent.

    Said Associate Professor Mohan Tiru, Senior Consultant at CGH: “GPs sometimes have difficulty in risk stratification, that means informing the patient whether they have low, intermediate or high risk of complication for a specific disease.

    The application helps increase awareness of clinical decision rules such that GPs can make informed decisions and patients can also make informed choices on their treatment, he said.

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • More Children Afflicted With HFMD Now Compared To Same Period In 2014

    More Children Afflicted With HFMD Now Compared To Same Period In 2014

    More children in Singapore have been afflicted with Hand, Foot and Mouth disease (HFMD) in the last 11 weeks, compared to same period in 2014.

    Latest figures by the Ministry of Health showed that just last week, there were 609 cases, almost twice the number of cases compared to the same period last year.

    Two childcare centres – PCF Sparkletots Boon Lay and Sunflower Preschool @ Balestier – have seen more than 10 cases and prolonged transmission. PCF Sparkeltots Boon Lay, located at Jurong West, has seen a total of 16 HFMD cases from Mar 3 to 12.

    Health experts said current trends suggest that the number of weekly cases may continue to remain higher than last year’s.

    More information can be found at the Health Ministry’s website.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

  • Red Tape Undermines Objective Of Pioneer Generation Package

    Red Tape Undermines Objective Of Pioneer Generation Package

    When I went to the clinic and opted to use the Pioneer Generation Package funding by the government, the clinic required me to sign a consent form, giving a lot of details.

    I asked – what for?

    The doctor explained that the consent form is to allow the doctors to provide details of consultations to MOH auditors when they come to the clinic to audit the claims.

    Surely, if a patient is benefiting from the government funding, it should be spelled out in the law that the consent is implied. This will save a few hundred thousand people signing useless forms and time spent by doctors to explain useless matters.

    Just because the Minister of Health is too lazy or too incompetent to issue a regulation about the “implied consent” or to get a law passed in Parliament, the whole country has to suffer from this useless burden and cost.

    The doctor said that he had raised this issue with the Ministry of Health when the form first came out. They agreed “to look into the matter” but nothing was done for several months.

    He now has to file the consent form and check with the patient each time, if they have signed the consent form. Instead of doing his work as a doctor, he now spends precious time checking forms! LOL!

    What a useless person who now sits as the Minister for Health. What is the Prime Minister doing about it? Surely, they know that these are unnecessary work and cost which can be avoided.

    Tan Kin Lian

    *Article first appeared on https://www.facebook.com/kinlian/posts/780644632008191

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Yaacob Ibrahim Warns SG Muslim Pilgrims of MERS Virus

    umrah-2014
    Credit: http://www.euroafricatravel.co.uk/

    SINGAPORE: Stick to guidelines put forward by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and the Islamic Religious Council of Singapore (MUIS) about the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), said Minister-in-Charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim.

    Dr Yaacob was advising those headed to Saudi Arabia for the mini pilgrimage or umrah.

    The guidelines include vaccination against common infections like the flu, and minimising interaction with live animals like camels.

    “Ultimately, if you don’t feel well, and you feel this is not the right time for you to go, you may want to consider whether or not it’s the right time for you to go.

    “We must not forget that this is not just about our health and our family, but the entire community. Because if you come back and you bring back the virus, you can affect other people here in Singapore. So there is a certain degree of responsibility,” said Dr Yaacob, who is also Communications and Information Minister.

    He added that his other concern will be for the fasting period of Ramadan, when many pilgrims may want to spend the whole month in Saudi Arabia.

    Credit: Channel NewsAsia Singapore
    Credit: Channel NewsAsia Singapore

    A few hundred Singaporeans will leave for Mecca on Sunday, after having secured visas from the Saudi authorities.

    The vice president of the Muslim Travel Agents Association is currently in Saudi Arabia to appeal for 2,500 visas for Singapore pilgrims who have booked tour packages for next month.

    Earlier this month, the visa application process for Singapore was momentarily slowed due to concerns about the large number of pilgrims in Mecca, while redevelopment work was in full swing.

    Mr Agil Alkaff, one of the members of the Muslim Travel Agents Association and director of Hagel Travel, is now relieved, as most pilgrims under his care have received their visas to visit Mecca in the past few days.

    Last week, he told them to be prepared to cancel their trip, if their visa application was rejected.

    He is still waiting for 60 more applications to be approved.

    Another travel agency, Shahidah Travel, is also relieved that 120 of its pilgrims are due to depart on Saturday after getting their visas.

    However, another 300 of the agency’s clients are still without visas.

    As a precautionary measure against the MERS virus, all Singapore pilgrims departing for Saudi Arabia have also taken up additional medical insurance, which includes coverage for all emergencies while in Saudi, as well as after their return to Singapore.

     

    Source: CNA