PAYA LEBAR (Outpatient Dispensary)

Mr Tay Boon Too asked the Minister for Health whether the Government is planning to establish an Outpatient Dispensary in the Paya Lebar Constituency.

Mr Yong Nyuk Lin: Mr Speaker, Sir, I regret to inform the Member for Paya Lebar that there are no immediate plans to establish an Outpatient Dispensary inside Paya Lebar Constituency. The reasons are the same as those given to similar questions raised by other Members in the recent past. It is not possible to have Government Outpatient Dispensaries in every constituency, and in my opinion the present 26 Government Outpatient Dispensaries situated all over the island are adequate to serve the needs of Singapore for the foreseeable future.

Furthermore, residents of Paya Lebar Constituency can go to any one of three nearby Government Outpatient Dispensaries:

(a) Paya Lebar Outpatient Dispensary (with three doctors) which is situated at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road with Yio Chu Kang Road and just outside the boundaries of Paya Lebar Constituency itself;

(b) Lim Ah Pin Outpatient Dispensary (with one doctor) which is just off 6th milestone, Upper Serangoon Road; and

(c) MacPherson Road Outpatient Dispensary (with three doctors) at Pesiaran Keliling, off Lower Paya Lebar Road.