Singapore's three healthcare clusters are working on strengthening the support structures around general practitioners (GPs) to help them deliver preventive care under the country's new one-resident-one-doctor plan known as Healthier SG.
Their comments come after the Ministry of Health (MOH) submitted the White Paper on Healthier SG to Parliament on Wednesday.
Healthier SG is a major transformation of the healthcare system to get people to take charge of their own health to keep diseases at bay. It is slated for launch in the second half of 2023 for those aged 60 and above, but first needs the buy-in from GPs.
The GP onboarding process to Healthier SG has not begun, but work to facilitate it has started.
"The SingHealth Partners Primary Care Network (PCN) is currently recruiting GPs in the eastern region to join the PCN, which is a prerequisite for GPs to come on board Healthier SG," said Professor Lee Chien Earn, deputy group chief executive of regional health system at SingHealth.
"We are also working with MOH and AIC (Agency for Integrated Care) to gather feedback from GPs on the types of support they need."
GPs had earlier voiced concerns about the fees, workload and work involved in Healthier SG. Singapore has about 1,800 GP clinics, of which 670 have formed PCNs.
The clusters said they will strengthen their relationships with GPs and community partners such as social service agencies and schools, as well as work closely with government agencies, such as the Health Promotion Board and Sport Singapore, in order to connect residents to a whole host of activities and interest groups.
SingHealth will set up integrated community care teams to deliver care in the east, said Prof Lee.
Called the SingHealth Healthier SG Teams, they will consist of care providers in a particular geographical area, such as primary care providers, community nurses, well-being coordinators and social care partners, he said.
Under Healthier SG, MOH will give the healthcare clusters an annual budget based on the total number of residents under their care.
At National Healthcare Group (NHG), which takes care of residents in the central-north region, Professor Eugene Fidelis Soh, deputy group CEO for integrated care, said it will develop with its GP partners relevant resources, shared care protocols and care pathways for enrolled patients, and have its IT systems enhanced and linked progressively.
"The family doctor is key to the implementation of Healthier SG," said Prof Soh.
Healthier SG builds on years of work that Singapore has put in to construct a healthcare system to help keep the population healthy and away from hospital care as much as possible
Mr Chua Song Khim, deputy CEO of the National University Health System (NUHS), said it has been working, for instance, with community partners to improve the health literacy of residents, encourage them to go for relevant health screenings and vaccinations, and guide them towards better management of health issues through GPs and its polyclinics.
Associate Professor Jeremy Lim, director of the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation at the National University of Singapore's Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, said: "If it is still the single GP seeing patients in the clinic and in between, sending WhatsApp messages to other patients to urge them to exercise, to eat more healthily... well, then it is a fool's errand and we are doomed to fail.
"But if the doctor is supported by a care team, a lot of technology and community partners, then it is not one person looking after thousands of people, but a properly structured and trained team."
