BETTER CARE: MOH will spend $1.9 billion in the next five years to pay staff more and employ more workers to ensure proper care for patients. -- ST FILE PHOTO

Their numbers are set to go up by 40 per cent in the next five years.

Still, the outlook is not rosy.

Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan foresees the worsening of medical staff shortage, with the opening of three more hospitals by 2011.

Pointing to the pool of medical specialists, he said: 'Our specialists are trained in the top centres around the world. They are much sought after.'

Similarly, the demand for allied health workers like therapists will also go up, and not just in health care.

The hospitality sector may woo them for well-heeled spa patrons who want to be treated by qualified health-care workers.

'We need to keep them in health care with comparable pay and working conditions,' said Mr Khaw during the debate on the Ministry of Health (MOH) budget.

In the next five years, the ministry will spend $1.9 billion in paying staff more and employing more staff.

The concern over retaining staff to ensure proper care for patients at restructured hospitals was raised by two public sector doctor MPs.

Dr Lam Pin Min (Ang Mo Kio GRC), from KK Women's and Children's Hospital, asked the minister for an assurance that the average person would not be 'sidelined' as medical tourism grew.

Singapore is targeting one million medical tourists by 2012. Dr Lam said they will spend $2.4 million and create jobs for 13,000 people, which is good for the country.

But it could hasten the brain drain from the public sector, where doctors and nurses are 'overworked' and 'underremunerated', he said.

Dr Fatimah Lateef (Marine Parade GRC) of Singapore General Hospital spoke of the low doctor-to-patient ratio here, compared to countries like Australia.

Mr Khaw replied that a recruitment drive is on. Singapore got 668 new doctors last year - 230 fresh graduates from the National University of Singapore and 438 overseas-trained doctors.

He also plans to double the scholarships - to 120 - for training allied health workers such as physiotherapists or speech therapists.

But patients too need to do their part, Mr Khaw said, in not staying longer in hospitals than they need to. He will use price to 'discourage unnecessary hospitalisation or artificially prolonged stays.'

Charges at hospital emergency departments will likely go up, to discourage those who do not really need such care.

Last year, the number of patients attended to at these departments was 11 per cent higher than in 2006. This is a big jump, Mr Khaw said, from the average 7 per cent increase over the previous three years.

He noted that the 7 per cent increase 'had already alarmed us' as it was much higher than the 4.5 per cent annual increase in the previous decade.

He asked: 'Are Singaporeans getting sicker? Are we getting into more accidents? Or are we rushing to emergency departments too readily, and perhaps unnecessarily?'

Health Ministry figures show a 6 per cent increase in the number of critically ill people and a 21 per cent increase in the number of major emergency cases last year.

But more than half of the 752,123 patients who turned up for emergency treatment last year were for minor emergencies, such as sprains or a fever that was several days old.

salma@sph.com.sg

Health Ministry