Singapore
Singapore
A view of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital from across Yishun Pond. (File photo: CNA/Try Sutrisno Foo)
25 Apr 2023 05:21PM (Updated: 25 Apr 2023 05:25PM)
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SINGAPORE: With hospital emergency departments seeing higher volumes of patients over the past two weeks, the median waiting time for admission to wards has risen from about five hours to 7.2 hours, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Apr 25).
The volumes of COVID-19 and non-COVID patients have both increased, MOH said, adding that some hospitals have longer wait times than others.
"The root cause, as explained recently by (Health) Minister Ong Ye Kung in parliament on Mar 21, 2023, is that we have many more patients with more complex medical needs, often older, who needed longer hospital stays," the ministry said in response to a CNA query.
"This contributed to higher bed utilisation, which slowed the flow of patients from emergency departments to hospital wards."
MOH said that patients will be treated while they wait to be admitted.
"Our public hospitals will activate inpatient teams to start investigations and treatment for patients in the emergency departments while awaiting admission into the hospital," the ministry said.
"If urgent care is required, these patients may have surgery done in the operating theatre or have urgent treatments performed elsewhere in the hospital, even before the ward bed is made available."
According to data on the MOH website for the week from Apr 9 to Apr 15, median waiting times exceeded 24 hours at three hospitals at one stage. However, they had dropped by the end of the week to range between two hours and 12 hours.
Daily bed occupancy rates ranged between 80 per cent and 100 per cent during this period, the MOH website showed.
The hospital told CNA that it had been "experiencing heavy patient loads for the past few months", and it is continuing to prioritise those who have critical conditions.
"There are unique and extraneous factors which contribute to the longer waiting time for a bed in KTPH," a spokesperson for the hospital said.
Median wait time for admission to hospital wards has gone up to 7.2 hours: MOH
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Singapore
Median wait time for admission to hospital wards has gone up to 7.2 hours: MOH
The Health Ministry says that patients will be treated while they wait to be admitted.
A view of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital from across Yishun Pond. (File photo: CNA/Try Sutrisno Foo)
25 Apr 2023 05:21PM (Updated: 25 Apr 2023 05:25PM)
BookmarkShare
SINGAPORE: With hospital emergency departments seeing higher volumes of patients over the past two weeks, the median waiting time for admission to wards has risen from about five hours to 7.2 hours, the Ministry of Health (MOH) said on Tuesday (Apr 25).
The volumes of COVID-19 and non-COVID patients have both increased, MOH said, adding that some hospitals have longer wait times than others.
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"The root cause, as explained recently by (Health) Minister Ong Ye Kung in parliament on Mar 21, 2023, is that we have many more patients with more complex medical needs, often older, who needed longer hospital stays," the ministry said in response to a CNA query.
"This contributed to higher bed utilisation, which slowed the flow of patients from emergency departments to hospital wards."
MOH said that patients will be treated while they wait to be admitted.
"Our public hospitals will activate inpatient teams to start investigations and treatment for patients in the emergency departments while awaiting admission into the hospital," the ministry said.
"If urgent care is required, these patients may have surgery done in the operating theatre or have urgent treatments performed elsewhere in the hospital, even before the ward bed is made available."
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According to data on the MOH website for the week from Apr 9 to Apr 15, median waiting times exceeded 24 hours at three hospitals at one stage. However, they had dropped by the end of the week to range between two hours and 12 hours.
Daily bed occupancy rates ranged between 80 per cent and 100 per cent during this period, the MOH website showed.
"UNIQUE AND EXTRANEOUS FACTORS"
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) saw the longest median waiting time during that week – close to 30 hours on Apr 10 – and also had a 100 per cent daily bed occupancy rate for six of the seven days.The hospital told CNA that it had been "experiencing heavy patient loads for the past few months", and it is continuing to prioritise those who have critical conditions.
"There are unique and extraneous factors which contribute to the longer waiting time for a bed in KTPH," a spokesperson for the hospital said.
