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SINGAPORE: In on-going efforts to regulate the healthcare profession, some 1,300 therapists may soon come under a new law.
The Ministry of Health (MOH) is proposing an Allied Health Professions (AHP) Bill under which a regulatory body called the Allied Health Professions Council will be set up to oversee the conduct and practice of allied health professionals.
Writing in his blog, Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said he hopes to have the Bill passed in Parliament early next year.
Allied health professionals are those who provide services like physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
Their numbers have been growing over the last five years. This is no surprise, especially with Singapore's growing aging population needing greater care.
Currently, such health professionals total some 1,300.
The MOH has been expanding the supply of such professionals through institutes of higher learning and foreign recruitment.
But so far, regulation has been left to their associations.
Low Hsien Chih, president of Singapore Physiotherapy Association, said: "One of the concerns of this industry is we always have this fear that there may be people out there misrepresenting the profession, people who may claim to be occupational therapists or physiotherapists but actually are not. So this Bill, with the penalties imposed, will actually deter people from calling themselves allied health professionals when they are not."
The Allied Health Professions Council will decide the registration status of each applicant, based on training, qualification and practice experience.
Tan Bee Yee, head of Department of Physiotherapy at Singapore General Hospital, said: "For physiotherapists who want to practise here, especially in the restructured public hospitals, they have to (have) a qualified degree from a recognised institution. The Bill would ensure that.
"Those who don't meet the immediate requirements, they would have to go through a period of supervised practice and also clear the MOH exam before they are allowed to practise. This would ensure safety for the public and patients.
"As healthcare professionals, we need to upgrade and to ensure that our practice is evidence-based. Continual education will ensure that. With the Bill coming in and with the need to have a minimum number of training hours before you can get a licence, this will help healthcare professionals like physios to keep up their knowledge through various means."
Florence Chong, president of Singapore Association of Occupational Therapists, said: "New knowledge and research is being created as time goes by and therefore we have to be updated with new technologies and methods of performing therapy. So, keeping updated is important so that we can deliver the best care to our patients."
Dr Lam Pin Min, chairman of Government Parliamentary Committee (GPC) for Health, said: "The proposed Bill will inevitably raise the standard and professionalism of the allied health profession. It mirrors very closely to that of the medical profession, with the Council to regulate the practice and also the Disciplinary Tribunal to mange errant practitioners.
"The more structured registration process is important in accrediting allied health professionals as we expect many of them to come from overseas to practise in Singapore.
"What's lacking in the Bill is the continual professional training requirements where registered practitioners are required to clock a minimum number of training sessions to renew their practising certificates. This is important to ensure that the practitioners keep abreast of the latest developments in their areas of practice."
A public consultation exercise on the proposed Allied Health Professions Bill is on till 7 October.
- CNA/ir
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