hospital bed crunch looms in next few years

ms salma khalik, the health correspondent of the straits times warns of "hospital bed crunch looms in next few years".

the recent news that our government has pushed the opening of sengkang general hospital, 2 years ahead of schedule in 2018 may be testament to the fact that our nation faces a shortage of hospital beds, even though augmented by the opening of the new ng teng fong hospital with an extra 700 beds, scheduled to take in patients from the year 2014.

current occupancy rates at public hospitals (with the exception of alexandra hospital) are hovering at or above 85% while the latest figures showed changi general hospital crossing the 95% mark on some days last maonth.

in contrast, the biggest private hospital chain, parkway pantai group comprising of mounth elizabeth, gleneagles and parkway east have average occupancy rates of 65% to 70%, although there should be an extra 333 beds with the opening of another hospital, the novena in mid 2012.

according to ms khalik, singapore's public health sector is chronically short of doctors, nurses and allied health professionals. but with more private hospitals coming up, the public sector can expect to see many of its highly skilled doctors leaving for greener pastures. last year, 310 doctors including 103 specialists left the public sector and in the first half of 2011, another 146 doctors, amongst them 35 specialists left the public sector.

and ms khalik notes that there is already a disproportionate number of specialists in the private sector. as a comparison, as at the end of 2010, the private sector with 1,873 acute hospital beds had 1,314 specialists while the public sector with 6,231 beds had only 2,030 specialists.

ms khalik draws this conclusion that there are not enough beds in the public sector to cope with the high demand, and even so, there may not be enough doctors and nurses to give patients the quality care they need.

my comments:

in my own experience, getting admitted into a private hospital comes with a problem in terms of the choice of being alloted a single-bedded room because they are usually fully taken up and i'm placed in the queue when one becomes available which may never happen and in which case, i have to be contended to stay in a 2-bedded room with a fellow patient.

on the other hand, getting a heavily subsided bed in a government restructured hospital (especially a bed in a 'C' Class Ward) may incur a long waiting time. there was even a media report that a patient had to be wheeled to the corridor and waited for up to 48 hours for a hospital bed. and i recall my own late beloved mother had to be placed in an observation ward awaiting the availability of a bed in a 'C' Class Ward for nearly 6 hours some years ago.

what's my point?

if one of the problems lie in the looming hospital bed crunch in the next few years, are there any options open to u, should the day come (touch wood) for the need to be admitted to a hospital.

the answer is yes, in terms of the solution in the availability of h&s products, because the choices can be mind-boggling and it definitely pays to know what are u looking for, should u wish to avoid the looming hospital bed crunch.

for example, the basic medishield plan is designed for limited options, and meant only for lower class wards in government restructured hospitals. the other drawback is the plan does not provide for lifetime coverage. and do take note the applicable deductible and co-insurance will not be covered.

moving up the h&s chain, we have the integrated shield providers like aia, aviva, great eastern life, ntuc-income and prudential where many benefits come 'as-charged' and not dollar-capped like older shield products. and all of these integrated shield plans come with different options, whether the life assured can exercise being admitted to all hospitals (whether private or government restructures hospitals) or just government restructured hospitals and the lowest plan usually restricted to lower class wards in government restructured hospitals only.

and because the shield providers also allow the purchase of the rider to cover the deductible and co-insurance, this may translate to a first dollar reimbursement arrangement between insured and insurer (with the exception of ntuc-income assist rider which does not cover 100% of the co-insurance).

shield coverage is essentially designed for local consumption with the exception of emergency overseas (outside singapore)* but is usually pegged to the reasonable and customary charges which would have incurred for similar medical treatment in a hospital in singapore, whichever is lower.

*aviva defines this as in-patient medical complaint outside singapore and if u are covered under Plan 1, aviva will pay the actual incurred charges or the reasonable and customary charges for equivalent medical treatment in any singapore private hospital, whichever is lower.

moving to comprehensive h&s plans that provide international coverage (outside singapore), we have a whole suite of products that have defined geograhical limits as well as worldwide coverage.

therefore, know what u are looking for and the limitations of each h&s product because in the final analysis, the plan that provides for the most options does not come cheap but is there when needed.