Shortage of Drs in SG

Feb 21, 2007
MOH teams sent to Australia, Britain to scout for doctors Missions led by top officials to address future shortage concerns
By Health Correspondent, Salma Khalik
HEALTH Ministry officials have been sent on scouting trips to Britain and Australia to help attract doctors for the public sector, which could be facing a severe shortage soon.
Towards the end of last year, Permanent Secretary Yong Ying I was sent to London and director of medical services Professor K. Satku to Australia to persuade Singaporean doctors studying or working overseas to return here, as well as lure top regional doctors to the island.
The duo were dispatched by their boss, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan, who is concerned that unless the ministry starts ramping up recruitment now, a shortage could follow.
Returning to a theme he has voiced several times, the minister told The Straits Times in an interview that there will be a 'significant increase in demand for doctors' in the coming years.
This will be fuelled by a combination of factors, including an ageing population, higher numbers of foreign patients, including medical tourists, and greater demand from the local population.
Said Mr Khaw: 'We must prepare for this increase in demand, or we will be swamped and patient care will suffer.'
Singapore has 6,482 registered doctors.
Last month, the Health Ministry announced several initiatives to increase the number of doctors in the public sector here. Singapore's goal is to have one doctor per patient in public hospitals, up from the current ratio of 1:2.
More than 200 doctors are trained locally every year but this is not enough, as there is a need for 400 or even 600, he has said.
To cope with the anticipated need, the National University of Singapore increased its student intake from 230 to 250 last year.
The second medical school at Duke University opens its doors later this year, but it will be four years before the first batch graduates and several more years after that for them to have gained enough experience to practise on their own.
Mr Khaw has already agreed to expand the list of medical schools whose degrees are recognised here and shorten the probation period for doctors who graduate from them.
Even then, the minister added, 'much as we will try to recruit as many as we can, we will be lucky to half-succeed'.
This is why he sent his top two ministry officials on scouting trips.
Ms Yong, who crammed 24 meetings into her week in London, said non-Singaporean doctors see Australia as an attractive alternative and are looking outside Britain because of new regulations that favour doctors from the European Union.
Accompanying her were senior doctors from the two public clusters, who were actively recruiting during those meetings.
Ms Yong said Singapore has the worst patient-to-doctor ratio among developed countries.
She said: 'We have very efficient doctors and they work very hard. But somewhere along the way, we also don't have enough.
'If you want to bring down waiting times, we need to recruit more doctors, much more than a few per cent.'
A spokesman for SingHealth - which runs three hospitals, five national specialist centres and nine polyclinics - said the number of doctors the cluster employs has risen by more than 30 per cent from 2003 and now stands at 1,700.
Last year, however, it lost 7 per cent of its specialists.
The other cluster, the National Healthcare Group, lost 8 per cent of its doctors last year. It now has 1,400 doctors, 12.5 per cent more than in 2003, and plans to take on about 100 young recruits this year.
salma@sph.com.sg
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'If you want to bring down waiting times, we need to recruit more doctors, much more than a few per cent.' MS YONG YING I, Permanent Secretary in the Health Ministry
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