MOH reorganises public healthcare system

The system is now divided into three integrated clusters.

The Ministry of Health will reorganise the public healthcare system into three integrated clusters to better meet Singaporeans’ future healthcare needs.

It reorganized the system intro three clusters: central region, where National Healthcare Group (NHG) and Alexandra Health System (AHS) will be merged; eastern region where Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and Eastern Health Alliance (EHA) will be put into one; and western region, where National University Health System (NUHS) and Jurong Health Services (JurongHealth) will be merged.

The polyclinics will also be reorganised, in line with the three new clusters. The National University Polyclinics group will be formed under NUHS, joining SingHealth Polyclinics and NHG Polyclinics as Singapore’s third polyclinic group.

MOH said each new integrated cluster will have a fuller range of facilities, capabilities, services and networks across different care settings.

"They will be able to draw from the combined strengths and talents of their two original clusters to deliver more comprehensive and person-centred health promotion, disease prevention, curative and rehabilitative care for the population in their respective regions. MOH will also work with them to ensure cross-cluster information flow and coordinated services so that together, we can serve as one public healthcare system for Singaporeans," it said.

Commenting on the reorganisation efforts, Minister for Health Mr. Gan said the ministry has significantly improved the accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare in Singapore under the Healthcare 2020 Masterplan.

"Nevertheless, we cannot afford to stay still as there remain many challenges ahead, such as our ageing population, increased chronic disease burden and the need to manage future growth in healthcare manpower and spending. This reorganisation of the public healthcare clusters will enable us to meet our future healthcare challenges. I am confident that we will be able to better optimise resources and capabilities, and provide more comprehensive and patient-centred care to meet Singaporeans’ evolving needs," he said.

Meanwhile, the National Healthcare Group CEO Prof. Philip Choo said the reorganisation will provide more integrated care for patients, care providers and the community.

"There will also be more primary care networks and health promotion, wider career development opportunities for staff, cross-learning and dialogue across institutions and clusters, more knowledge sharing of new innovations, best practices, research and education," he said.

He furthered, "As with any reorganisation, change can understandably be uncomfortable and unsettling for some. That said, I strongly believe our patients will benefit, so will most of us, as we are served by a public healthcare system which cares enough to constantly revitalise itself to meet the healthcare needs of our population, now and in the future.”