Family doctors can become specialists; electronic health records to be compulsory

Singapore will continue to invest in and strengthen primary care sector: Minister

- Salma Khalik

Singapore will continue to invest in and strengthen the primary care sector as it has become an imperative, especially given an ageing population, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.

This will include recognising family physicians who undergo additional training as specialists.

They deserve the status to stand alongside other specialists, and it also signals the importance of primary care, he told The Straits Times.

Another move, to enable doctors to provide faster and better care, is to make it compulsory for all clinics and hospitals to be part of the National Electronic Health Record (NEHR), which holds the essential health data of patients.

NEHR has been around for many years, but about 30 per cent of private clinics, excluding those providing aesthetic services, and practically all private hospitals are still not part of the system. Legislation will be in place by early 2025 that will force them to input their patients' medical data.

Mr Ong explained: "Whether it is a family doctor, specialist or hospital surgeon, when they see a patient for the first time, it helps a great deal when they have the medical history, drug allergies and recent diagnostic images of the patient.

"With this information, they don't have to repeat tests; they don't have to waste time, and they can make better and faster decisions, for the good of the patients." Patients who do not want their information to be accessed on the system may opt out of allowing access.