Committee of Supply 2024 debate, Day 6: Rahayu Mahzam on supporting Singaporeans in healthier lifestyles
The Government will continue to grow the healthcare workforce sustainably, while moderating demand through innovative ways of delivering care, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 6), she said over the last 10 years, Singapore grew its healthcare manpower by about 40 per cent and increased its local healthcare student intakes at the Institutes of Higher Learning by a similar margin, translating to a combined intake of 3,600 healthcare students in 2023. Ms Rahayu said the Government will continue to work with public healthcare institutions (PHIs) and the community care sector to attract and retain manpower across the board. For nurses, it is engaging Allied Health Professionals to better understand their needs and to co-create the vision for the professions, with a view to coming up with a National Allied Health Strategy. It is working on the PharmForce initiative to look into manpower development, shaping pharmacy practice to meet population needs, promote wellness and build resilience of the pharmacy workforce. Turning to operations and support staff, Ms Rahayu said the healthcare clusters have embarked on job redesign initiatives to better attract and retain them. Across the board, PHIs will continue to keep salaries competitive. Ms Rahayu also stressed the importance of ensuring the well-being of healthcare workers by working with clusters on measures to support them. For doctors, these will include clearer work hour guidelines and reviews on work processes to improve efficiency and balance the workload. Turning to efforts to support Singaporeans to have healthier lifestyles, she highlighted initiatives such as easy-to-use symbols and labels for healthier products and activities for people to exercise at their own pace and convenience. These efforts are starting to see positive results, she said. Addressing concerns over vaping, Ms Rahayu said the Government is working across ministries and agencies to take the necessary measures to protect the population and prevent e-vaporisers from taking hold in Singapore.
The Government will continue to grow the healthcare workforce sustainably, while moderating demand through innovative ways of delivering care, said Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Health Rahayu Mahzam. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday (Mar 6), she said over the last 10 years, Singapore grew its healthcare manpower by about 40 per cent and increased its local healthcare student intakes at the Institutes of Higher Learning by a similar margin, translating to a combined intake of 3,600 healthcare students in 2023. Ms Rahayu said the Government will continue to work with public healthcare institutions (PHIs) and the community care sector to attract and retain manpower across the board. For nurses, it is engaging Allied Health Professionals to better understand their needs and to co-create the vision for the professions, with a view to coming up with a National Allied Health Strategy. It is working on the PharmForce initiative to look into manpower development, shaping pharmacy practice to meet population needs, promote wellness and build resilience of the pharmacy workforce. Turning to operations and support staff, Ms Rahayu said the healthcare clusters have embarked on job redesign initiatives to better attract and retain them. Across the board, PHIs will continue to keep salaries competitive. Ms Rahayu also stressed the importance of ensuring the well-being of healthcare workers by working with clusters on measures to support them. For doctors, these will include clearer work hour guidelines and reviews on work processes to improve efficiency and balance the workload. Turning to efforts to support Singaporeans to have healthier lifestyles, she highlighted initiatives such as easy-to-use symbols and labels for healthier products and activities for people to exercise at their own pace and convenience. These efforts are starting to see positive results, she said. Addressing concerns over vaping, Ms Rahayu said the Government is working across ministries and agencies to take the necessary measures to protect the population and prevent e-vaporisers from taking hold in Singapore.
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