Longer emergency wait times at hospitals 'consistent' with post-public holiday surge: MOH
Earlier this week, two public hospitals warned of an increase in wait times due to high patient load at their emergency departments.
An ambulance parked outside the accident and emergency department of a hospital in Singapore. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: The current increase in wait times at some hospitals' emergency departments is consistent with a post-public holiday surge, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Friday (May 16).
This comes after some public hospitals said on Wednesday that they were seeing a high volume of patients at their emergency departments.
In Facebook posts, Changi General Hospital (CGH) and Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) advised their patients to expect longer wait times due to the current patient volume.
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) also told CNA on Wednesday that it had seen increased patient volume at its emergency department since Tuesday.
Monday was a public holiday in Singapore due to Vesak Day.
A KTPH spokesperson attributed the higher numbers mainly to the recent long weekend, while SKH told CNA on Friday that the increased patient volume it faced in the past week was "consistent with the post-public holiday surge".
Both hospitals said the rise in patients was not driven by COVID-19.
In response to CNA's queries, MOH said acute hospitals can experience higher attendances at their emergency departments during certain times of the year.
"Notwithstanding the higher attendances at the ED, hospitals will continue to promptly triage patients, to quickly identify those with severe medical conditions and ensure they are attended to urgently and patient care is not compromised."
It added that inpatient teams will be activated to start treatment on patients waiting for admission into the emergency department to ensure no delay in care rendered.
Patients may also be transferred or diverted to other hospitals, said MOH.
"To manage bed occupancy, hospitals may admit suitable patients to Mobile Inpatient Care at Home (MIC@Home), and transfer medically stable patients to community hospitals, transitional care facilities and other community facilities or services."
Echoing similar advice provided by the affected hospitals previously, the health ministry urged patients to seek care at general practitioner clinics or polyclinics for non-urgent conditions.
