Are patients disadvantaged when sent to hospitals further away?
Dr Teo said that in Singapore, the distances involved in transporting patients to a hospital have not proven to be a drawback.
In any case, the perception that longer travel time puts a patient at a disadvantage is wrong, the doctor added.
“The time ‘saved’ to go to the nearest but not most appropriate hospital will cause more delays and a poorer outcome,” he said.
Dr Teo gave the example of a trauma patient being sent to a hospital not suited to manage his condition, and which ends up arranging for him to be transferred.
The subsequent process of stabilising, activating an ambulance, calling the receiving hospital and other factors will need about one hour to organise.
This would exceed any travel time “savings”, and during that hour, the patient still has not received appropriate attention, said Dr Teo.
Can patients be taken to a nearer private hospital?
No, unless it’s Raffles Hospital.
Patients picked up by an SCDF ambulance may be sent to the emergency department there, if they are assessed to be in non-life threatening conditions and if Raffles Hospital is the nearest available and appropriate facility.
They can only be sent during office hours, excluding weekends and public holidays.
Patients with certain conditions such as obstetric or paediatric-related, major trauma and mental health ones will not be sent there. Neither will those with communicable diseases, severe burns or injuries related to hazardous materials.
In 2020, then-senior Minister of State for Health Edwin Tong said in parliament that private hospitals were not configured to provide the full range of emergency and trauma services needed to manage all life-threatening situations.
Source: CNA
