The bed crunch in public hospitals is so severe that it has spilled over to their emergency departments, many of which stay packed with patients because there is no room to move them elsewhere.
Emergency department (ED) doctors say there are days when the situation is so bad that an arriving ambulance is unable to discharge the patient for lack of space. Instead, the medical team has to assess patients while they are on the ambulance trolley.
Those who are in critical condition are treated immediately. Others might have to wait for 15 to 30 minutes for space to be found so that they can be offloaded and the ambulance can leave.
This also holds up the ambulance, which might be urgently needed by another critically ill patient.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force, which runs the emergency ambulance service, said there has been a 32 percent increase in calls in the first half of 2022 over the same period the previous year, of which 93 percent were real emergencies.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) said hospitals will mitigate the situation during peak congestion periods through measures such as adding more beds to wards and creating holding spaces in EDs. At least one hospital has converted a consultation room to hold patients in recliner chairs when it is short of beds.
The Straits Times spoke to several ED doctors and nurses who asked that they and their hospitals not be identified. They said the problem has been around for years, but has become worse this year, partly on account of the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Denne historien er fra October 21, 2022-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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Denne historien er fra October 21, 2022-utgaven av The Straits Times.
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CALLIGRAPHY IS BIG WITH ARTIST
The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-tze's (right) Taipei apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher's daunting perfectionism. They are paper - remnants of discarded artworks, crumpled together like used tissues and soaked into inky wads of pulp. Hundreds of old drafts of writing, including many of her efforts to draw Chinese poetry at a monumental scale, have been recycled into these rocks over the years, most recently as she worked on her commission for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which debuted on Nov 21.
Mattel sued over Wicked dolls with porn website link
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Taiwanese musician-director Liu Chia-chang a composer of hit songs
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Actress Kristal Tin reveals lung cancer diagnosis
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South Korean entertainment schedules up in the air
SEOUL - Schedules of performances and interviews in South Korea have been thrown into a state of uncertainty by a sudden martial law declaration that was lifted only a few hours later.
Host Dasmond Koh surprised by martial law edict while in Seoul for work
Upheaval in Seoul, South Korea
Squid Game returns to end 2024 with a bang
In this monthly column, The Straits Times' streaming picks for December include the long-awaited second season of the survivalist hit Squid Game (2021 to present) and its non-lethal equivalent.
Flow speaks Volumes, The Room Next Door a thin melodrama
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Funeral rites come alive in The Last Dance
The Hong Kong drama offers fascinating glimpses into the city's funeral traditions
Tolkien and anime work well together, says Japanese director
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