Overcrowded A & E NOT Due to Overpopulation!

And as usual, Sporns are to be blamed again! And this cums from the very same bastoods who felt that hospital construction can be delayed to keep the cost of building casinos low.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Sep 8, 2008

</TR><!-- headline one : start --><TR>Packed hospital ERs <!--10 min-->

</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Judith Tan & Seow Kai Lun

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A record 398,167 patients sought treatment at the emergency departments of the country's six public hospitals. -- ST PHOTO: SHAHRIYA YAHAYA

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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"-->SINGAPORE'S emergency rooms handled a record number of patients during the first half of this year, most of whom suffered from relatively minor ailments such as fevers, sprains and headaches, according to new statistics.
The torrent of non-emergency patients drives up waiting times, say health officials, and has left the Government and hospitals searching for ways to lessen the burden on emergency departments.
A record 398,167 patients sought treatment at the emergency departments of the country's six public hospitals between January and June - a 5 per cent jump over the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Health (MOH). This is the highest tally since 1970.
More than one in two of these patients had non-life-threatening problems that could easily have been treated at a polyclinic or a private doctor's office. The number, however, did drop slightly from that a year earlier.
Patients who spoke to the Straits Times said they opted for emergency room visits instead of a trip to a polyclinic because they believe that:
Waiting times in emergency departments are generally shorter than those at heavily subsidised polyclinics, which often hit three hours;
Patients do not need referral letters for things such as X-rays and lab tests;
Hospitals often have a patient's medical records on hand and
Hospitals offer better care than polyclinics.
'Singaporeans want one-stop service and convenience,' said a spokesman for Alexandra Hospital.
Mr Yap Yong Quan is one of those who head straight for the emergency department. The 50-year-old said he had been to polyclinics several times but still suffered from giddiness and periodic blackouts.
'I think going to the emergency room is better,' he said. But health officials say patients like MrYap are contributing to a big squeeze in emergency rooms.



=> New spin: Sporns like to visit A & E for fun!

Emergency department numbers have been rising since 2003, when the Sars epidemic hit and people, fearful of catching the disease, stayed away.
The rise also comes as the country's population ages: 8.5 per cent of Singapore's population last year were 65 years and older, up from 7.3 per cent in 2000.
The MOH said relieving the emergency department overload had become 'a constant challenge', one it has been discussing with the public hospitals.
A spokesman told The Straits Times that the solution lay in a mix of developing infrastructure, such as hospital-building, increasing manpower, reviewing hospital operations, emphasising treatment by primary care providers and, if need be, 'right-pricing'.
The crunch is a double whammy for Singapore's emergency rooms. As the country's population gets older, they are seeing an increase in bona fide emergencies.

=> Care to give a breakdown on the no. of patients who are FTrash?

A Singapore General Hospital spokesman added that patients 'are older and more ill than before'.
This big squeeze is pushing up waiting times. While emergency cases are attended to upon arrival, non-emergency patients typically have to wait half an hour to two hours, 'depending on the patient load at the time', a National University Hospital (NUH) spokesman said.

=> Old Fart's wife leh?

In 2005, the median waiting time for such patients ranged from 16 minutes at Alexandra Hospital to 54 minutes at Tan Tock Seng Hospital, which has the country's busiest emergency department.
The NUH came up with two initiatives to cut waiting time last year, including posting a senior doctor at the triage counter, where patients are assessed. The move has helped the hospital get a headstart on things such as lab tests, the hospital said.
[email protected]
[email protected]

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<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Deserted 24-hour clinics
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Jessica Jaganathan
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At 10.15pm on Friday night, one patient was waiting to see the doctor at the Central Clinic & Surgery in Hougang. -- ST PHOTOS: SAMUEL HE
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<TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD> View more photos
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->AS A growing number of Singaporeans head to emergency departments for non-life threatening conditions, the country's 24-hour clinics are seeing a major drop in business.

=> How is "Sporn" defined here? Care to tell us the no. of FTrash reporting sick at A & E, too?


Nearly 24 of these medical centres have stopped offering round-the-clock services in the past eight years, while those still around have seen patient numbers plummet.
'It's difficult to run a 24-hour clinic,' said Dr Robert Ong, director of Central Clinic and Surgery Group, which has ceased 24-hour operations at five of its eight round-the-clock clinics in the past six years.
Clinics say they have been hit by rising costs, a shortage of doctors and an inability to pull in patients already familiar with hospitals.
One general practitioner (GP), Dr Adrian Tan, said emergency departments are sometimes more affordable than some 24-hour GP clinics. Overheads and the salaries of locum doctors, which have jumped by 40 per cent in the past 10 years, have forced 24-hour clinics to raise prices, he said.
During the past five years, a growing number of Singaporeans have been heading to emergency departments for relatively minor ailments, including colds and back aches. The trend has concerned health officials, who say it has led to an increase in waiting time.
While most patients go to the emergency departments during the day, even a small drop in night business seems to have affected 24-hour clinics.
A clinic that experienced a drop first-hand was Healthway Medical in Ang Mo Kio, which was seeing only about 10 patients a night after midnight.
While it did not close, the clinic was forced to shorten its hours and is now open till 10pm instead of round the clock.
'Manpower cost and the number of patients coming in just did not tally,' said deputy medical director Dr Vincent Chia.
Clinics still operating round the clock have also seen business fall. Lifelink at Serangoon, for instance, has seen a 50 per cent decrease over the past three years.
The public's perception that emergency departments are a one-stop shop could be a reason some patients are heading there, said Dr Wong Tien Hua, a GP at Sengkang.
'In reality, GPs can offer most of the services, short of X-rays,' said Dr Wong.
Dr K.K. Chong, a family physician at a clinic in Bukit Purmei, said some patients also try to circumvent long waiting time to see a specialist by heading straight to the emergency units.
He said affordable emergency department fees - compared to other countries - attract patients.
Sometimes it can be more expensive for patients to visit a 24-hour clinic. Consultation fees can go up to $100, not inclusive of medication, while hospitals charge a flat fee of up to $90 which includes tests, said Dr Tan, a GP in Jurong West.
Meanwhile, GPs that operate in the day say their business has not been damaged by the number of Singaporeans heading to emergency departments for ailments like colds and headaches.
The GPs say their busiest hours are from 10am to 2pm and 6pm to 8pm, the same times emergency rooms see a spike in patients. [email protected]

<non-emergency patients typically have to wait half an hour to two hours, 'depending on the patient load at the time', a National University Hospital (NUH) spokesman said. >

KNN NUS spokeman lying thru his teeth..

more likely minimum 3 hrs wait..

The report is the usual forerunner excuse to pave the way for a hefty price rise in fees for A & E consultation, Simple PAP logic; whenever there is congestion- pricing to weed out crowds (ERP) concept comes in.

S'poreans themselves are silly enough to waste money and time see a doctor for common cough/colds, headaches, tummy aches etc.

In western countries, such minor illnesses can be self treated by a visit to the Pharmacy to get stuff like decongestants (blocked noses), antihistamines (runny noses), cough mixtures (suppressants or expectorants) etc. Only if the problem persists after 3 or more days is a doctor consultation needed.

In NZ at least, workers need not produce MCs if one needs to stay home for a day due to illness. This cuts down a lot of unnecessary visits to the GPs just to get a 1 day MC.

It is ludicrous to waste so many manhours waiting 3 hours in the waiting room, not counting the time taken for travelling there. The coughing and spreading the germs around by the large crowd and the number of professional doctors tied up just to clear simple cough/cold cases which doesn't really need their professional expertise in diagnosis. The 3 hours of wasted time sitting in the waiting room could have been better used to rest & recuperate from the illness.

Yah man!! They can build the casino in record time, but they cant even start building another hospitalj. This really show how much our gov "care" for us.
~~~

400,000 A&E patients a year out of 4.6 million is a problem.

The hoispital charges a bloody S$70/=, if short waiting time is the reason, doesn't it make more sense to go to a private clinic????!!!!