And no qualms importing more FTrash! When will Sporns say enuff is enuff and RISE UP like the Iranians?
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Khaw goes for smaller hospitals
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SMALLER hospitals are the way to go, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan at a health-care congress yesterday.
Having larger hospitals will limit the number that can be built, hence reducing public access, he explained to the 400 international delegates specialising in the design of health-care facilities.
Although the upcoming 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun is already considerably smaller than the other public hospitals in Singapore, Minister Khaw feels that it could have been even smaller.
'I still think that a 400-bed hospital is the right size for a new-generation hospital,' he said.
This way, there can be more hospitals distributed closer to the population centres, he added.
The other hospitals here can take in between 800 and 1,500 patients. The largest one is the Singapore General Hospital.
Mr Khaw also said hospitals should not follow a 'one-size-fits-all model' to cater to every patient.
KTPH, which marks the structural completion of its building today, will focus on 'fast medicine' to treat patients with acute needs efficiently and quickly.
In time, a small health cluster will be formed in the Yishun area with the building of a community hospital and a nursing home next to KTPH.
The new-breed community hospital next to KTPH will give 'slow medicine', from wellness programmes for the elderly to geriatric assessment and treatment to end-of-life care, Mr Khaw said.
He added that the Ministry of Health will relook nursing homes, home care and other community services to 'make health care better, faster, cheaper and safer'.
APRIL CHONG
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Khaw goes for smaller hospitals
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SMALLER hospitals are the way to go, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan at a health-care congress yesterday.
Having larger hospitals will limit the number that can be built, hence reducing public access, he explained to the 400 international delegates specialising in the design of health-care facilities.
Although the upcoming 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) in Yishun is already considerably smaller than the other public hospitals in Singapore, Minister Khaw feels that it could have been even smaller.
'I still think that a 400-bed hospital is the right size for a new-generation hospital,' he said.
This way, there can be more hospitals distributed closer to the population centres, he added.
The other hospitals here can take in between 800 and 1,500 patients. The largest one is the Singapore General Hospital.
Mr Khaw also said hospitals should not follow a 'one-size-fits-all model' to cater to every patient.
KTPH, which marks the structural completion of its building today, will focus on 'fast medicine' to treat patients with acute needs efficiently and quickly.
In time, a small health cluster will be formed in the Yishun area with the building of a community hospital and a nursing home next to KTPH.
The new-breed community hospital next to KTPH will give 'slow medicine', from wellness programmes for the elderly to geriatric assessment and treatment to end-of-life care, Mr Khaw said.
He added that the Ministry of Health will relook nursing homes, home care and other community services to 'make health care better, faster, cheaper and safer'.
APRIL CHONG
