And for each of these frequent visits, the 43-year-old nurse had to fork out the taxi fare for the trip from Jurong West to KKH.

To save people like her hassle and money, the hospital has an Asthma Care programme, which ropes in general practitioners (GPs) and paediatricians to manage asthma cases in partnership with the hospital's specialists.

Under the programme, children with relatively stable asthma are directed to family physicians or paediatricians, usually near their homes, and need to see their KKH doctors only once a year.

Started this month, the programme already counts nearly 200 GPs and paediatricians from private clinics and polyclinics across the island as partners.

This community-level care lowers costs and makes it more convenient for patients - without compromising the level of care and support, said Dr Jenny Tang, deputy head in KKH's department of paediatric medicine

Read the full story in Friday's edition of The Straits Times.