These include tapping local and foreign sources to build capacity.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said this on the sidelines of an annual free public health screening event in the heartlands on Saturday.
The event was organised by the National University of Singapore Medical Society.
Geriatric care will become more important for healthcare providers.
As Singaporeans live longer, more elderly citizens are expected to suffer from chronic diseases.
The need to detect and manage such conditions through programmes like screening will stretch healthcare resources.
Mr Gan said: "That is why we are formulating our masterplan for our healthcare system so that we can determine what kind of capacity of our healthcare services will be needed, going forward, taking into account our demographic shifts, the ageing of our population and increasing life span.....the number of nurses, doctors, healthcare professionals we need.
"Then we can look at how to develop a pipeline of a supply of this manpower, whether they are locally-trained or overseas-trained.
"We are also stepping up our efforts to attract Singaporean students who are studying Medicine overseas. We introduced a pre-employment grant scheme recently and we are quite happy the response is very good, and we are looking at how we can attract more Singaporeans who are now currently studying Medicine overseas to come back to Singapore to serve."
More attention should be paid to conditions linked to ageing and elderly care such as dementia, which can be detected early with tests on their cognitive ability.
Part of the geriatric screening is a fall-risk assessment . By standing up and sitting down, balance and stability are tested. And this is important, because falls are a common cause for hospitalisation amongst the elderly.
Ng Zhi Guang, third-year medical student at NUS, said: "For many of the elderly who live alone or who don't have a proper caretaker at home, most of them go to the hospital because they sustain injuries while falling at home. So we thought it might be necessary to assess their risk of falls at home, so they could follow up or take necessary precautions at polyclinics or GP clinics."
While screening is important, Mr Gan stressed that it should be done on an informed basis.
He said: "We also don't want to have over-consumption of the various healthcare tests. So it's important to consult the doctors, so the doctors will then be able to give you appropriate advice of what type of screening will be necessary for you, taking into account your lifestyle, your family history, the profile of your illnesses, the history of your illnesses, and so on."
Mr Gan added that health screening for senior citizens will help them age actively.
The annual Public Health Screening at Toa Payoh HDB Hub over the weekend hopes to reach out to about 2,500 Singaporeans.
About 800 medical students of the National University of Singapore (NUS) and 15 doctors are volunteering at the event to screen for conditions like high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol.
And for the first time, this year's event has a screening booth just for the elderly aged 65 and above.
- CNA/ir
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