Healthcare authorities working to ease patient loads in emergency departments amid Covid-19 surge
The latest Covid-19 wave over the last few weeks has aggravated the situation in public hospitals, which have been seeing a large volume of patients since the beginning of the year.
The National Healthcare Group, National University Health System and SingHealth in a joint statement on Friday said they are working with the Health Ministry to adjust the capacity in hospitals and ensure there is enough manpower to care for patients.
Public hospitals, the statement added, have also set aside beds that can be converted to isolation beds, and holding facilities for suspect Covid-19 cases pending their results.
The statement said healthcare institutions are also offering alternative arrangements for patients when appropriate.
These range from tele-consultation and remote monitoring of patients and delivery of medication.
The healthcare clusters said: “We have been monitoring the situation closely and adjusting our response accordingly to optimise resources for both Covid-19 and non Covid-19 patients.
“Where possible, we have redeployed manpower to better support the high attendance at our emergency departments.”
Hospitals have also put in place a triage process which includes having emergency clinicians review cases admitted to hospital to avoid unnecessary admission of patients, the statement said.
Stable patients are referred to home recovery programmes such as NUHS@Home, SGH@Home and Yishun Health Medical Home, or community sites such as Covid-19 Treatment Facilities as appropriate, it added.
The statement said: “To free up more capacity, we are also deferring some non-urgent elective surgeries and admissions to preserve hospital beds and manpower.
“The safety and care of our patients remain our utmost priority. Patients requiring care will continue to be attended to.”
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