Civilian doctors will be deployed to selected Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) medical centres later this year to ensure that injured or ill servicemen can get immediate care from more experienced doctors. This was announced by Senior Minister of State (Defence) Chan Chun Sing, who is also Acting Minister for Social and Family Development, in Parliament on Monday.

This group of doctors is equipped to handle more complex medical conditions and will serve as mentors for the SAF's medical officers and medics. Currently, SAF medical officers are full-time national servicemen (NSFs) and have only two years of experience in a hospital .

Mr Chan said that the SAF will partner a civilian healthcare group to deploy the family physicians in selected SAF medical centres.

He also told the House that soldiers training in western part of Singapore will also get faster access to more experienced medical support during emergencies when the new Ng Teng Fong hospital is up and running next year. The hospital's emergency doctors will also be training the military's medical staff to improve their services.