Raise healthcare allocation, urges medical body

In a statement on Oct 8, it said the government should increase the level of outsourcing of care for outpatients with chronic illnesses from public hospital outpatient clinics to private primary care clinics (in the same vicinity) for follow-up treatment, resulting in shorter waiting lists for public out-patient clinics.

Its also hopes the government would exempt healthcare services from the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

To help lower-income groups and those who are not insured, the government should not privatise public hospitals and public healthcare clinics, it said, adding all private hospitals should be required to declare their fees for their index 50 hospital procedures to contain the rise in private hospital fees.

To control unregulated health screening and medical tests, the government should enforce the Pathology Laboratory Act 2012, it said, with the tests ordered only by registered medical practitioners with no vested interest in the investigating facility.

The association also wants middle-men in healthcare to be regulated, saying middleman services are draining away patients' healthcare money.

The government should also enforce the Medical Devices Act 2012 so that medical devices are in the hands of only properly trained and registered medical practitioners, it said.

Meanwhile, it said an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanism for medical mishaps also needs to be implemented since ADR for medical mishaps is a proven system worldwide which lessens the need for expensive long-drawn court proceedings.