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Actually can consider shifting all non-essential items to the tentage mah like food court, meeting rooms, office let the patients have pirority mah maybe we should start to tie up with jb hospitals liao http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/hospitals-facing-severe-bed-crunch-take-unusual-steps-20140108 Hospitals facing severe bed crunch take unusual steps Patients being housed in tent and corridors, or sent to other hospitals Published on Jan 08, 2014 By Salma Khalik, Senior Health Correspondent A severe bed crunch at Singapore's public hospitals has forced several of them into taking some extraordinary measures. Changi General Hospital (CGH), which has 800 beds, started housing patients waiting for beds in a large air-conditioned tent this week. The 1,200-bed Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), meanwhile, has been forced to set up 49 beds along the corridors of its wards to cope with the demand. Together with Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), they have also resorted to sending patients to Alexandra Hospital, one of the few public hospitals here with spare beds. Changi General Hospital started housing patients waiting for beds in this large air-conditioned tent this week. The 800-bed CGH, along with Tan Tock Seng and Khoo Teck Puat hospitals, has resorted to sending patients to Alexandra, one of the few public hospitals here with spare beds. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said last night that he was aware of the problem - hence, the push to add 1,900 more acute hospital beds and 2,600 community hospital beds by 2020. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO Having taken in more than 900 patients from other hospitals between last September and December, it continues to admit around 11 such patients each day. Dr Lee Chien Earn, CGH's chief executive officer, told The Straits Times: "Our bed occupancy rate has crossed 100 per cent for certain periods over the past month and some patients have waited more than 24 hours for an inpatient bed." This is despite CGH already renting a ward from Parkway East Hospital and the next-door St Andrew's Community Hospital. Mr Liak Teng Lit, head of Alexandra Health which runs KTPH, said: "Every day, we have to make decisions regarding our 500 patients. Those who are not so sick are discharged to make way for the 50 to 60 patients waiting for a bed." He described the current bed crunch as "abnormal", since public hospitals usually experience a dip in patients during this period. But numbers went up instead. Dr Chia Shi-Lu, a member of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Health, suggested that the crunch might be due to the holiday season rather than a spike in illnesses. Mr Liak said this was possible. He explained how 20 KTPH patients at any one time refuse to be discharged. Some say their families are on holiday, and there is no one at home to take care of them. Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said last night that he was aware of the problem - hence, the push to add 1,900 more acute hospital beds and 2,600 community hospital beds by 2020. He added: "The hospitals have also implemented various measures to alleviate the bed crunch. "CGH has set up a nine-bed Short Stay Unit and expanded its observation ward from 12 to 20 beds at the Emergency Department and also set up an Admission Transit Area for patients who are waiting for a bed in the ward." Madam Fatimah Beevi, 60, has experienced the crunch at both KTPH and CGH over the past fortnight. She spent Christmas night on a trolley bed in the packed KTPH's emergency department, where she said the beds were so close she could touch the next patient by stretching out her arm. She was discharged after a day. When her problems persisted, she went to CGH on Sunday. She was placed in the Admission Transit Area for 48 hours while waiting for a B2 bed. "There was no shower room and I couldn't bathe for two days," said Madam Fatimah, who was discharged yesterday evening after her condition stabilised. [email protected] www.facebook.com/ST.Salma

I'm in HK now and had to send my partner to a private hospital, HK adventist hospital, for some food allergy problem. Rashes, itch and all that. Since it's a private hospital, I thought it's gonna to cost alot. Nothing is cheap in HK anyway, right? Worse is that this hospital is situated at the Peak area, high up with all the expensive residential area where the tourist maps don't even show. That who know HK will know this area. Anyway we went there at A&E, they called it "urgent care" at 1am. I thought they will charge midnight surcharge and all the crap. Quick summary, my partner got one injection and given 3 medications. The total bill is only S$160. Everything in with consultation charge. Now I been to our SGH, TTSH before and compared to this HK hospital, they r considered expensive. I rem SGH A&E admission charge already $70 basic. Already considered as subsidy charge. U add up the med cost and GST, it will cost over 100 bucks. So what subsidy are we talking about here? The best thing is we were attended by all 100% HK nurses and doctor. No FT s--t..... Even the admission clerk is HK.

Letter to forum Here's what Alexandra Hospital did MY AUSTRALIAN friend and her family visited Singapore last year and during their stay on Sentosa island, one of their three children was scalded in a restaurant. She was immediately taken to Alexandra Hospital where the nurses took care of her just as swiftly. The hospital dispensed with bureaucratic requirements like insisting on passport details which impressed my Australian friend. Her gratitude increased when she saw that the hospital's priority was to treat her scalded daughter. After treatment, we proceeded to settle the bills but the cashier replied that there was no charge. My Australian friend was amazed, and I was proud as a Singaporean. Minor gestures make a world of difference. It matters even more when we are but a little red dot. My Australian friends have only wonderful things to say about Singapore and those in Alexandra Hospital made it happen. So, I am disappointed that Singapore General Hospital (SGH) insisted on collecting a mere $90 from Mr Filip Lou, despite his heroism. Ironically, its insistence has turned out to be a stiff price to pay for insensitivity. I hope SGH will follow Alexandra Hospital's lead and learn a thing or two from this small hospital with a big heart. Cindy Lim (Ms)

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