Unfortunately, The Capai 97 Percent Singapore Hospital Filling Rate, 100 Years Old Grandma Must Wait 25 Hours To Get A Room

The high hospital occupancy rate in Singapore has forced patients in the country to wait up to tens of hours to get a treatment room, when a number of factors are said to have contributed to this and the government asks the public to play a role in easing the burden on hospitals.

Ng Tengegory General Hospital and Sengkang General Hospital are among those who have a wait time of up to 50 hours, according to family members of patients and health workers contacted by CNA, as reported October 20.

This is higher than the latest data available from the Ministry of Health's website, which shows the average waiting time to enter the wards of the emergency unit is between an hour to 24.2 hours in September 25. Meanwhile, data for October 2 and so on has not been released.

A man who simply wanted to be named Ng said his mother had to wait up to 25 hours to get a bed, after being taken to Ng TengENT General Hospital by ambulance on Tuesday afternoon as her legs began to swell.

Hospital strict rules prevented her from accompanying her 100-year-old mother, and suffering from advanced dementia.

"I was so worried that I couldn't go with him, talk to doctors to tell them about his diet and needs," said the 70-year-old.

Later, he was finally able to talk to doctors to find out more about his mother's condition over the past few days, saying she was currently stable.

"(At the time) they said they would only tell me once he got the bed, so I thought he was placed in the A&E (emergency unit) ward. I was worried he might be cold there and whether anyone would give him a blanket or feed him. It took too long to wait," he said.

Separately, Situ Lim's condition is almost the same, where her mother took nearly 20 hours to get a treatment room at the Singapore General Hospital.

The mother is 73 years old and is suspected of experiencing internal bleeding. While waiting, it said the mother was placed in the hospital's Ambellery Surgery Center.

"It was very crowded and noisy there and from what I saw, there were a lot of patients with their beds close to each other and spilled over onto the main footpath as well," said Lim.

Based on hospital data held by the Ministry of Health, the latest figures show that the daily occupancy rate ranges from 74.7 percent to 97.6 percent between September 25 and October 1.

A health worker said one of the things that could cause the current situation was the severe increase in patients.

"Many elderly people do not go to general practitioners or buy medicine for their needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, let them pass. So they come in conditions where they already have to be hospitalized," said a senior doctor.

Labor constraints in hospitals are also exacerbated by the current wave of COVID-19 cases, with more staff members testing positive for the virus.

"Many junior doctors are sick and because so many of them are sick, no one remembers. So the seniors finally have to cover them up," he said.

"This is a vicious circle and it feels endless, so we all feel very tired," he said.

On another occasion, a junior doctor said the longer time could be due to a combination of factors, including an ongoing flu season and a spike in COVID-19 cases. Although, he said previously the condition of the hospital was already overcrowded.

It is known that the health workers interviewed were not named, because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

Separately, a Health Ministry spokesman told CNA the emergency unit had seen an increase in the number of patients in recent months.

"All cases that appear in the ER are prioritized and priority care will continue to be given to critically ill patients in the ER," the spokesman said.

The ministry urges community members to go to hospital emergency units only for emergencies.

"We also appeal to everyone to play a role in easing the burden on our general hospital by visiting general practitioners or polyclinic doctors first if they experience mild respiratory symptoms and/or conditions that are not life-threatening," he said.