NURSES TO POPULATION RATIO

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Health what is the ratio of nurses to population that is ideal for Singapore; when this will be achieved; and how it will be done.

BG George Yong-Boon Yeo: There are a total of 11,600 registered nurses in Singapore, giving a nurse to population ratio of 1:280 in 1993.

It is projected that there will be a need for another 3,400 nurses by the year 2000. This takes into account the needs of an aging population, the development of new health programmes and the building of more hospitals, clinics and nursing homes.

For planning purposes, the targetted nurse to population ratio is 1:200, or 15,000 by year 2000. There is no ideal ratio as such but we believe that our target is reasonable when compared to some developed countries. For example, the nurse to population ratio in 1993 for UK, Japan and US was 1:234, 1:165 and 1:154 respectively.

The targetted ratio can be achieved if the recruitment of student nurses is able to meet the target of 600 Registered Nurses for training each year. The intake of student nurses into Nanyang Polytechnic for Registered Nurses has been encouraging. It has increased from an intake of 259 in 1992 to 557 in 1994.

In the meantime Ministry of Health will continue to rely on the recruitment of foreign nurses to supplement local recruitment.