| |
| |
![]() |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
SINGAPORE: Public education on the Mental Capacity Bill and ensuring safeguards to protect the mentally incapacitated were key concerns raised by MPs in Parliament on Monday.
With Singapore's ageing population, MPs lauded the Bill as being timely and appropriate. But the concern was whether the average Singaporean will understand it and use it.
Sin Boon Ann, MP for Tampines GRC, said: "Few would ordinarily want to take the trouble of making an application to court to get a deputy appointed.
"It should be made more user-friendly and less costly to implement. This is not and should not be a legislation that only the middle class and the well heeled can afford."
Hence, the view that public education is crucial for the successful implementation of this new legislation.
The other major concern is the potential abuses by proxy decision makers. While a new Office of Public Guardian aims to prevent this, MPs fear the devil is in the details.
Sam Tan, MP for Tanjong Pagar GRC, said: "This law does not prevent people from taking the easy options of putting older people in nursing homes."
Chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee on Health, Madam Halimah Yacob, argued: "As presently drafted, the Bill gives proxy decision makers power without too much accountability. The Bill gives significant powers to proxy decision makers and grants them legal status in the context of health care.
"There are, however, risks in giving such powers to those not medically qualified, who are not like doctors (who are) held accountable for medical negligence, and who may even have a conflict of interest, such as a financial expectation on the patient's death."
Acknowledging their concerns, the Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, Vivian Balakrishnan, said there will be resources for safeguards.
"We have a specific whistle blower protection clause in our Bill. We have accorded health care workers with immunity from liability for reporting cases of ill-treatment or neglect of a mentally incapacitated person," he said.
To supplement the new legislation, a Code of Practice will also be drawn up. The ministry expects this to be ready in a year's time.
- CNA/ir
|
