Continuous Monitoring of Vital Signs of Babies Admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units at Hospitals

Ms Hany Soh asked the Minister for Health (a) how many of the hospitals in Singapore currently practice continuous monitoring of vital signs on babies who are admitted to its neonatal intensive care units and special care nurseries; and (b) whether other hospitals, apart from KKH, intend to also review and enhance its monitoring procedures for newborns, in particular those born premature or with medical conditions.

The Senior Minister of State for Health (Dr Janil Puthucheary) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, continuous monitoring of vital signs is routinely performed for all infants admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) in all acute hospitals with neonatal care services.

In addition to KK Women's and Children's Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and the National University Hospital are also reviewing and enhancing their monitoring measures for higher risk infants who are not admitted to the NICU but may benefit from closer monitoring.

Mr Speaker: Ms Hany Soh.

Ms Hany Soh (Marsiling-Yew Tee): I thank Senior Minister of State Janil for his response. Apart from enhancing the monitoring procedures, I hope that MOH can also consider having an SOP in place whereby the hospitals are providing neonatal parental support where it is automatically activated to ensure that the helpless parents are assured of the procedures that will be in place and the essential resources available to assist them.

Dr Janil Puthucheary: I thank the Member for her suggestion. It will be considered.