New Khoo Teck Puat Hospital helps ease bed crunch at
hospitals: Khaw
By S Ramesh | Posted: 24 July
2010 1133 hrs
SINGAPORE: The burden on Singapore's other general
hospitals is easing now with the opening of the new Khoo Teck Puat
Hospital in Yishun says Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan.
He says the results are showing.
Speaking to the media at the new hospital Saturday morning, Mr Khaw
said an additional 200 beds have been added to help ease the crunch
on hospital beds.
Furthermore, the Accidents and Emergency Department's seeing more
than 200 attendances a day while the outpatient clinics are seeing
more than 800 cases a day.
Mr Khaw said: "The trigger point of all this is no beds in the
north. So all rush to Tan Tock Seng. It then overflows the problem
to other hospitals. Then emergency patients cause problems to the
elective patients. This is how the chain of events.
"So if you fix the source, and that is make sure there are enough
beds in the north and this hospital is the solution to the
problem.
"Tan Tock Seng as we all know has been more than a crowded hospital
and occasionally we have had to have diversions, ambulances being
sent to the other hospitals, causing problems at the other
hospitals and that has eased. It has not been completed eliminated
yet mainly because the ambulances have not been coming to this
hospital yet".
Mr Khaw added that ambulances will start bringing patients to the
Khoo Tech Puat Hospital from Monday.
The Minister is hopeful that after next week, the situation would
improve further.
"The new hospital is already busier than the Alexandra Hospital. So
Alexandra Hospital therefore will be able to provide a very small
relief to NUH. So Tan Tock Seng workload has eased a bit.
"We all know the waiting problem in Tan Tock Seng. My own target
was make sure all patients should not wait more than 10 hours. So
last few months, we still have a small percentage of patients and
that one is not hassle-free.
"For two three weeks now, no patients have to wait for more than 10
hours and most of them waited less than four hours, three hours. So
clearly we can confidently say that the problem has eased, but not
yet 100 per cent but after next week, I am optimistic that it
should be but it will take some time to run in".
Meanwhile, Mr Khaw also revealed that the Health Ministry is not
giving up the old Alexandra Hospital site as yet.
Mr Khaw says if the Aexandra Hospital is closed down immediately
before the Jurong hospital opens by 2015, the National University
Hospital would suffer the same fate as the Tan Tock Seng Hospital
of the last three years.
The old hospital will be used to prepare for the new Jurong General
Hospital in the West.
The additional beds at the current Alexandra Hospital will also
serve as a buffer in the event that extra beds are needed.
On the new Jurong General Hospital, Mr Khaw says the planning is
now in a very advanced stage and he believes the ground breaking
ceremony is likely to take place before the end of this year.
The Jurong General Hospital is due to open by 2015.
He said: "(The Jurong General Hospital team) have taken over
Alexandra Hospital and so they actually have a hospital to run
which is important. That was what we did for KTPH. I told them we
want to try new ideas, then let's test them out. So AH was a like a
laboratory for the KTPH, so likewise AH will be the laboratory for
the Jurong General Hospital people.
With a very strong build up on the population in the Sengkang and
Punggol areas, the Health Minister says a site has been identified
in that region for another general hospital.
Mr Khaw who recently underwent a heart by-pass operation says he's
about 80 perc ent fit and his doctors feel its safe for him to do a
slow jog at seven kilometres per hour.
He continues to keep in close touch with his constituents and
together with the other MPs in Sembawang GRC, he's also ready for
the next general election.
"I am just taking it easy a little bit because it is still within
three months of the surgery. After three months I should be able to
resume almost 100 percent. I have started meet-the people session)
by Skype. By next month I should be able to do proper MPS and I
should be starting block visits by September."
- CNA/jm
