Nursing Home Service

When is a Nursing Home Service licence needed?

You will require a Nursing Home Service licence if you:

• Provide a healthcare service to an inpatient who is an elderly or disabled, or has a life limiting condition or illness, and requires continuous nursing care.

For the legal definition of a Nursing Home Service, please refer to the First Schedule of the Act.

Applicable Specified Services and Mode of Service Delivery

The only allowable Mode of Service Delivery for Nursing Home Service is permanent premises. The following Specified Services are offered under the Nursing Home Service:

• Blood Transfusion Service (only allowed in nursing homes with approval for Hospice Service)
• Collaborative Prescribing Service
• Hospice Service

Requirements to be a Clinical Governance Officer

An individual must be in good standing and fulfil all of the criteria below to be appointed as a Clinical Governance Officer (CGO).

1. For an individual to fulfil the requirements to be a CGO, he or she must:

a. Reside in Singapore during his or her appointment as a CGO

b. If a doctor is to be appointed as a CGO, he or she must:

i. Be a fully registered medical practitioner with SMC and hold a valid practising certificate, AND

ii. Be registered as a specialist in any branch of medicine OR be registered as a family physician, OR

iii. Have practised as a medical practitioner for at least 5 continuous years or an aggregate period of at least 5 years during a continuous period of 10 years

c. If a nurse is to be appointed as a CGO:

i. Before 18 Dec 2023: If the incumbent nurse leader does not meet the experience and/or qualification requirements, he or she will be grandfathered as long as they remain employed at the same nursing home.

ii. On and after 18 Dec 2023: at the point of application, the proposed CGO nurse must meet the following criteria:

• Be a fully registered nurse with SNB;
• Hold either a degree in nursing OR a post-registration qualification in clinical nursing, such as an advanced diploma, post-graduate or post-basic nursing qualification;
• Provide documentary proof that arrangements are made to ensure both qualification criteria will be met by Dec 2028 (e.g., course enrolment);
• Have started working as a registered nurse in a residential care setting on or before Dec 2018; AND
• Have already accumulated at least 5 years of work experience in leading the provision of nursing care and services in a residential care setting.

They will have a 5-year sunrise period until Dec 2028 to meet the qualifications and experience requirements.

iii. After Dec 2028: he or she must:

• Hold a degree in nursing AND a post-registration qualification in clinical nursing (e.g., an advanced diploma, post-graduate or post-basic nursing qualification);
• Have practised as a registered nurse in the last 10 years in nursing homes, inpatient hospice, or inpatient wards in both acute and community hospitals; AND
• Have an aggregate period of 5 years within the last 10 years of nursing practice, in a leadership and management role.

2. For an individual to fulfil the requirements to be a CGO of a Hospice Service, he or she must:

a. Be registered as a specialist doctor in palliative medicine; and

b. Have at least 5 years of work experience as a medical practitioner within the last 10 years, of which there is at least 3 years of experience as a palliative medicine specialist.

3. For an individual to fulfil the suitability qualifications to be a CGO, he or she must not:

a. Have any of the following convictions, unless it is a spent conviction:

i. An offence involving fraud or dishonesty;

ii. An offence under the HCSA, the PHMCA or any applicable Acts listed in the Annex A of the Code of Practice;

iii. An offence specified in the Third Schedule to the Registration of Criminals Act; or

iv. Any other offence involving abuse, ill treatment, assault, or physical violence

b. Have a pending charge for an offence under 3a(iv)

c. Be an undischarged bankrupt

d. Have had his or her healthcare professional registration(s) under MOH cancelled, removed, or suspended

e. Have been a director or manager of a healthcare services provider that had its registration or licence suspended, cancelled, or revoked

f. Have had his or her accreditation or approval to participate in MOH-administered public schemes revoked or suspended

g. Lack capacity within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2008.

For further details on the suitability requirements for a Key Office Holder, please refer to the Code of Practice.

Abuse Reporting

Nursing homes will be required to notify MOH of any allegations and incidents of abuse under HCSA. Nursing homes are required to report cases (including alleged cases) of the following nature:

1. Physical abuse;
2. Sexual abuse; or
3. Psychological abuse [includes harassment and verbal abuses (e.g. repeated derogatory remarks) causing psychological distress to resident].

Nursing homes shall notify MOH within 72 hours once they have been made aware of these cases, with the final incident report to be submitted 30 days after the initial notification.

• Submit the notification form at https://go.gov.sg/moh-abuse-notification 
• Submit the final incident report to MOH_NHS_Abuse@moh.gov.sg
• If you require assistance or guidance in managing such incidents, please contact AIC at Assistance_NHabuse@aic.sg

For more information, please access the following links:

1. Explanatory Guidance on Abuse Management in Nursing Homes; and
2. Guidance Notes on the Licence Conditions for Serious Reportable Event Quality Assurance Committee for nursing home service licensees

Licence Fee

For Nursing Home Service, the applicable licence fee is $1,100.

If you provide a Specified Services (SS), you will have to pay an additional fee on top of the LHS fee. If you offer two SS, you can pay a bundled fee instead. Please refer to the Table below for more information on how your licence fee will be calculated.