ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS (Centralised system to track bed vacancies and waiting times)

ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS

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(Centralised system to track bed vacancies and waiting times): **

24.

Mr Steve Chia Kiah Hong asked the Minister for Health if his Ministry will consider setting up a centralised system to track bed vacancies and waiting times in the different public hospitals so as to provide information to ambulances, patients, prospective patients and members of the public, on the state of bed vacancies and waiting times at their Accident and Emergency departments.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan: Emergency Departments are for the seriously ill. All such patients are attended to promptly upon arrival. There is not much waiting for such patients. Other patients should consult their regular Family Physicians. However, if they prefer to visit hospital Emergency Departments, they will have to wait their turns. And when the hospitals are particularly busy, their waiting time may be long.

I have previously explained to this House why TTSH Emergency Department was unusually busy. They have since taken various measures to ease the over-crowding and the situation is now better.

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Mr Steve Chia suggests that we find a way to let patients and emergency ambulance service know real-time the prevailing state of activity level at the emergency departments. Technically, we can provide such information on the hospital websites and have it updated frequently. Presumably, this will help patients and the ambulance crew decide which hospitals to go to.

But I doubt this is useful to patients, for in an emergency, nobody is going to have the time to check into a website. Their first thought must be to jump into a car or a taxi to bring them to the nearest hospital.

As for the emergency ambulance service, their current dispatch system is based on geographical zone. The patient is sent to the nearest approved hospital with an A&E department as this is in the patient's interest.

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