Minister for Health Gan Kim Yong said on Tuesday that his ministry will increase the number of high dependency (HD) and intensive care (ICU) hospital beds for the critically ill.
Speaking in Parliament, Gan said that the number of HD and ICU beds will increase alongside the overall number of public hospital beds.
As of end 2011, HD and ICU beds constitute about 9.4 per cent of beds in service.
The bed occupancy rate for HD beds up to the third quarter of 2011 was 60 per cent while the bed occupancy rate for ICU was 73 per cent.
"We recognise that the demand for such facilities would increase as our population ages with increasing prevalence of chronic diseases coupled with advances in medical treatment that enable treatment of increasingly more complex cases," said the minister.
He added, "We need to use these facilities appropriately and ensure right siting so that only patients who need HD and ICU beds are warded in such facilities."
*back into the abyss of death*
No comments:
Post a Comment