Re: SG Has Worst Doctor-to-Population Ratio in the World. Yet Ministers Have Highest
Hi Dr Asterix, there is no need to cross swords over such an issue. Like I've said before, the number of doctors is only one of the many standard criteria to assess the healthcare system of a country. I do not possess such profound knowledge and figures. But I think the quality of medical care is more important : the quality of the doctors and also the educational status of the patients.
Educational status of the patients? Trying to shift the blame to citizens, I don’t think they are that daft any more. The older generation have children who are relatively well educated. Besides, one does not need to be highly educated to follow instructions from healthcare personnel, provided such personnel bothered to give clear explanations and guidance in a language which the patient understands.
You can have the best doctors available, but if there is no compliance and understanding of their own illnesses and treatment, the standard of medical care will not be good too. If patients stll believe in voodo medicine and in esoteric treatments,despite the availability of good quality doctors, the result is still bad.
If for a start you have limited number of good doctors to treat the local populace, promoting Peesai Island as a medical hub for foreigners with means from the four corners of this earth is a monumental mistake! Donald Tsang tried to promote Hong Kong as a medical hub and met with resistance and rightfully so. Leung has dropped the idea of the Fragrant Harbour as a medical hub shortly after coming to power.
When foreigners are willing to pay sky high prices for healthcare and there is no restriction on the purchase of such services, good doctors and nurses will move to higher paying jobs in private hospitals causing a shortage in public hospitals. These public hospitals are then forced to recruit doctors and nurses with questionable qualifications from Third World countries. Thus in this manner, the quality of healthcare for the local populace is compromised. All under the watch of MiniSTARS who are paid OUT OF THIS WORLD salaries.
Singapore was doing well until lately the massive influx of New Citizens had somehow caused some problems not only to our Healthcare System but also to our socio-economic-political lifestyles. We had in fact regressed somewhat in several areas.But the good thing is that we are catching up and we are trying very hard to correct this sudden disruption of our smooth system here.
In other words, the Scums in White screwed up big time. Why should they be allowed to continue screwing up especially when they were reluctant to acknowledge the existence of problems in the first place.
Overall,my humble assessment of our healthcare system is one that is affordable and has attained a high standard of medical care and treatment. We have one of the best doctoring system in the world and I think we will continue to improve on the ration.Our ordinary citizens have easy assess to doctors in their neighbourhoods and they do not need to make any appointments at all.They are free to choose to see any doctor unlike other countries where you have to book an appointment and you have to stick to your chosen doctor ( a good system , nevertheless. but sometimes, the appointment to see a particular doctor can be rather daunting....)
Bald and unsubstantiated statements such as these do not impress the peasants any more. They will draw conclusions as to whether Sinkieland’s healthcare system is good or bad or has deteriorated significantly based on their own experience and those of their friends, neighbours and loved ones. Judging from the posts here and elsewhere on the net, coffee shop talk, conversations with friends, etc their verdict is clear – Sinkieland’s healthcare standards have deteriorated markedly for the ordinary citizen who uses public hospitals.
And we cannot compare ourselves with those Scandinavian countries simply because we are so different in many ways. Culturally, historically and economically, we are so different. They are among the richest countries in the world with rich and almost unlimited resources and with very sparse population which is almost homogeneous. But recent influx of immigrants and foreign workers has caused many social problems. The medical system has somehow also suffered as a result of this influx of New Citizens.
Why not? Scandinavians do not have two eyes, one nose, a beating heart, et cetera. Sinkieland is not poor. The reserves are how many billions? How many billions were lost punting on banks which are too big to fail?
Singapore will learn from their experiences and I am sure we will improve on our system.
Idle promises to improve will fail to impress increasingly demanding and educated citizens. In what specific ways are they going to improve? By when will these targets be met? How will they measure success or failure objectively? For a start, a healthcare ombudsman will help to whip these jokers into shape! And a change of governing party in 2016 will not hurt.
Watched the news lately?
