Singapore - How community hospitals will use charity dollars

SINGAPORE: From improving services, facilities and equipment to offering better salaries to attract more staff, these are some of the ways that community hospitals are planning to use the charity dollars that will be freed up, as a result of the Government's move to increase subsidies for the intermediate and long-term care sector.

On Monday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) gave details of the higher subsidies, which were first announced in the Budget last Friday.

While all the service providers in the sector - including eldercare centres, nursing homes and home-based care providers - will gain from the higher subsidies, the community hospitals are understood to enjoy the greatest impact in terms of the freed-up charity dollars.

There are six community hospitals here: Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, Bright Vision Hospital, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital, Ren Ci Hospital, St Andrew's Community Hospital and St Luke's Hospital.

When contacted, Ren Ci Hospital CEO Loh Shu Ching said: "With more available resources, Ren Ci can also play an active role in supporting ageing in place by carrying out more community engagement programmes and developing new community-based services." She added that the funds may also go to improving patient safety as well as staff training and recruitment.

A St Andrew's Community Hospital spokesperson noted it is "already using charity dollars to help our patients financially". "With this additional funding, we plan to help them even more," the spokesperson added.

Both Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital and Ang Mo Kio-Thye Hua Kwan Hospital said improving the quality of services is on the cards. For instance, rehabilitation sessions can be conducted over longer periods or more often. More or better equipment can also be bought.

The MOH said on Monday it will be meeting representatives of the community hospitals to discuss how they intend to re-deploy the charity dollars.

According to the MOH, there is an agreement in place that these hospitals will not raise their fees - following the increased subsidies - and that "the charity dollars that are freed up should be used towards helping the patients". The ministry said it will not dictate how the hospitals specifically use the charity dollars.

Industry players were generally against the idea of a formal framework to guide the service providers on how to use the additional funds, as they felt doing so would make the process of helping their clients too rigid. Peacehaven Nursing Home executive director Low Mui Lang said: "When we provide a service, there will be specific needs that fall out of the framework ... every client has different needs and different social circumstances."

However, NTUC Eldercare general manager Lim Sia Hoe felt some form of regulation would allow service providers to allocate funds more effectively to clients who need it most. 

TODAY


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