SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health will be empowered to take over the operations of certain healthcare service providers who are in serious financial trouble, under the Healthcare Services Bill that was passed in Parliament on Monday .
"The primary purpose is to protect patients’ safety and welfare against a recalcitrant provider endangering them or from abrupt discontinuation of residential healthcare services,” Mr Tong said. Holland-Bukit Timah GRC MP Christopher de Souza asked: “As the powers are intrusive and the threat of a step-in being invoked preemptively can cause uncertainty for all involved, would the minister provide some examples to illustrate the severity involved in circumstances of public interest? Essentially, what is the threshold required?”
Step-in powers will now enable MOH to intervene in the operations to address the problems and improve continuity of care for patients. For instance, while the beauty and wellness industry, as well as the traditional medicine and complementary medicine, do not come under the scope of this Bill, these are some of the services that may co-exist on the same premises as a licensed service.
Where services are complementary to the licensed healthcare service, this concern is mitigated, he added.
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