OYK is dismayed.
2d ·
I am dismayed at the monthly rental bid of over $52,000 (or over $1,000 psm) for a GP clinic in Tampines. This must translate to higher cost of healthcare one way or another, and negate the effort of
Ministry of Health, Singapore (MOH) to try to keep the cost of primary healthcare affordable.
More importantly, higher rental bids do not necessarily translate to the best healthcare that the community needs.
The role of a GP is increasingly important, as our population ages. The GP is key in developing a relationship of trust with patients, and to guide them towards better health. He or she is the vital link to connect patients to acute hospital care, preventive community care and social prescriptions.
That is why last month, MOH and
Housing & Development Board (HDB) launched a new tender approach for GP clinics at Bartley Beacon. Quality of care will account for 70% of the tender evaluation, and rental 30%. This is a larger unit, about 100sqm, twice the size of normal clinics, and suited for clinics which intend to provide multi-disciplinary care and try out new models of care.
Through this Price-Quality evaluation Model (PQM), we can shift the competitive focus away from rental rates, to better care models, including preventive care, chronic disease management and mental health.
The tender was closed on 29 May. I understand from my MOH officers that we have received interesting proposals, with rental bid prices significantly below the Tampines site in psm terms. We are currently assessing the proposals.
The Tampines clinic was tendered in Dec 2024 and awarded in Mar 2025, before we embarked on the PQM model. Going forward, and given the encouraging response to the Bartley Beacon site, we will make the new PQM approach the norm, when tendering our GP clinics in our HDB heartlands. It will be a meaningful shift, both in improving primary care, and ensuring greater affordability.
