Review 'no air-conditioning' norm for subsidised wards?

The healthcare norms spelt out in the 1990s stipulated no air-conditioning for subsidised hospital wards as a means of checking overuse of these wards. Is it time for a rethink?

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Singapore has progressed significantly in the past decades. Yet, when it comes to hospital care, it is still sticking to some principles set out 25 years ago.

Some have been discarded, but on an ad hoc basis. It is time to review the proposals in the White Paper On Affordable Healthcare, published in 1993, to see if they are still relevant.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 17, 2018, with the headline Review 'no air-conditioning' norm for subsidised wards?. Subscribe