Follow-up Medical Care for Released Prison Inmates

Dr Tan Wu Meng asked the Minister for Home Affairs with regard to prison inmates who are approaching release and who have multiple medical conditions and follow-up medical appointments, what measures are in place to facilitate the handover and streamlining of medical care to a restructured hospital, family medicine centre or polyclinic near to their homes upon their release.

Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Prison Service (SPS) facilitates medical referrals for inmates who require follow-up upon release. For primary care, an inmate would typically be given a referral letter, which he can bring to a polyclinic or family physician of his choice. An inmate who requires specialist or tertiary care follow-up would usually be referred to Changi General Hospital (CGH) for continuity of care, as CGH provides treatment for inmates during incarceration. An inmate may be referred to another restructured hospital should the inmate require treatment under a specialty not available in CGH. The inmate can also request that CGH transfer his care to another hospital.