Source: Straits Times, 26 Aug 2009

SEVERELY mentally disturbed patients at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) now spend far less time strapped to their beds or in straitjackets.

They also spend less time – 21 days, down from the previous 27 – in the hospital’s eight-month-old high-dependency psychiatric care unit before being moved to the general wards.

The IMH’s approach in handling acutely disturbed patients bagged it the Most Outstanding Project prize in the Customer Service Project category of the recent Asian Hospital Management Awards held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

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CHILDCARE centres and kindergartens are stepping up the cleaning of classrooms as the number of children coming down with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) continues to climb.

Last week, 653 people came down with the normally mild childhood disease that usually causes fever and rashes.

That is just 12 short of the Health Ministry’s official ‘epidemic level’.

Seven children had to be hospitalised last week; this is not out of the ordinary and in most cases, they recover within a week.

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Doctors will notify Health Ministry the moment they suspect link between patients with food poisoning symptoms
By Judith Tan

THE first eight patients suffering from food poisoning after eating Indian rojak from the Geylang Serai Temporary Market turned up at the Changi General Hospital (CGH) early last Friday morning.

This was despite the fact that a few people were already feeling ill as early as last Wednesday.

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ONLY Singaporeans will be reimbursed for donating a kidney, for a start.

Payments will be extended to foreigners only when there is enough confidence in the scheme, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

Allowing payment to foreigners for a kidney was a major sticking point, both in parliamentary and public debates on the controversial move because of concerns that it would open the door to organ trading, with the poor and vulnerable being exploited.

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To avoid exploitation, have follow-up care and work with other nations
By Salma Khalik

THE law has been amended, and living kidney donors can now get some form of recompense for their sacrifice.

But debate on the issue continues.

The sticking point for the opponents of the amended Human Organ Transplant Act (Hota) is the inclusion of foreigners in the reimbursement scheme.

They are not against a donor getting financial compensation for time lost at work or for future medical needs resulting from the organ donation; their argument is that what is considered ‘reasonable recompense’ for a Singaporean could well be large enough to be an inducement for a foreigner from a poor country.

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CHANGES to help patients cope with medical bills are on the way, including a radical one to allow them to dip into their Medisave to care for the terminally ill at home.

Singaporeans prefer to live out their last days in the company of loved ones, but most do not do so, ending their lives in a hospital or a hospice, noted Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday.

‘So what is missing is home palliative care,’ he told reporters at the sidelines of his visit to Paya Lebar constituency.

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