The Healthcare Services Act (HCSA) will replace the current Private Hospitals and Medical Clinics Act (PHMCA) in phases.
HCSA Phase 2 implementation in June 2023 will affect existing PHMCA licensees offering the following:
- Acute Hospital Service
- Community Hospital Service
- Ambulatory Surgical Centre Service
- Assisted Reproduction Service
- Outpatient Dental Service
- Outpatient Medical Service
- Outpatient Renal Dialysis Service
- Human Tissue Banking Service
- Nuclear Medicine Service
To continue offering your service(s), your licence will be transited from the PHMCA to the HCSA by June 2023. Thereafter, you will use the Healthcare Application & Licensing Portal (HALP), the new licensing system, for your licensing transactions under HCSA instead of the current e-Licensing (eLIS) system used for PHMCA licensees.
Complete Steps 1 & 2 (below) for MOH to map your existing PHMCA licence over to HCSA seamlessly.
1. PHMCA Licensees are required to renew your licence before it expires (Table 1). Only PHMCA licensees with a valid licence tenure in eLis will be transited to HALP. Once your licence is renewed, it will be automatically converted into a HCSA licence from 16 June 2023. You should submit your licence renewal 2 months prior to licence expiry to avoid late fee charges.
Table 1: Licence Renewal
PHMCA licence expiry date | Licence renewal | Renew in which system? |
Expires before 1 September 2023 | By 10 April 2023 | eLIS |
Expires from 1 September 2023 onwards | From 16 June 2023 onwards | HALP |
2. Some Phase 2 licensee groups have been asked to confirm the Specified Services (SSes) which they intend to provide under their Licensable Healthcare Service (LHS) licences.
ATTENTION:
MOH has reached out to selected Phase 2 licensee groups to confirm the SSes which they intend to provide under their Licensable Healthcare Service (LHS) licences. These Phase 2 licensees provide Ambulatory Surgical Centre Service, Outpatient Dental Service, Outpatient Medical Service, and Outpatient Renal Dialysis Service.
Licensees who have received the notification from MOH are to provide the informationby 31 March 2023.
If you belong to any of the 4 identified Phase 2 licensee groups buthave not received the notification from MOH, please reach out to us at HCSA_Enquiries@moh.gov.sg |
3. From April to May 2023, MOH will engage licensees to sign up for training sessions to familiarise themselves with HALP.
4. There will be an administrative blackout period from 17 May 2023 onwards. To facilitate the data migration from eLIS to HALP, you will not be able to access eLIS from 17 May 2023 onwards. Hence, if you wish to update any information related to your licence in eLIS, please do so prior to 16 May 2023.
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You may find the transition decks for each Licensable Healthcare Service, which provides more information to how your PHMCA licence will be transited to a HCSA license, in Table 2 below.
Table 2: Transitioning materials applicable to Phase 2 HCSA Licensees
| Service | Transitioning Deck |
Acute Hospital | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Acute Hospital Service
Acute hospitals licensed under PHMCA will be issued an acute hospital service licence under HCSA. |
Community Hospital | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Community Hospital Service
Community hospitals licensed under PHMCA will be issued a community hospital service licence under HCSA. |
Ambulatory Surgical Centre | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA forAmbulatory Surgical Centre Service
Medical and dental clinics with approval to provide ambulatory surgery licensed under PHMCA will be issued with an ambulatory surgical centre service licence under HCSA. An outpatient medical service licence is required if the centre also provides pre- or post-procedural consultations. |
Assisted Reproduction Service | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Assisted Reproduction Service
Acute hospitals and medical clinics with approval to provide assisted reproduction licensed under PHMCA will be issued an assisted reproduction service licence under HCSA. An outpatient medical service licence is required if the assisted reproduction centre also provides clinical care beyond procedures which involve the handling of gametes and embryos, such as obstetric and gynaecology services, at the same premises.
|
Dental Service | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Dental Service
Dental clinics licensed under PHMCA will be issued a dental service licence under HCSA. |
Medical Service | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Medical Service
Medical clinics licensed under PHMCA will be issued a medical service licence under HCSA.
|
Outpatient Renal Dialysis | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Outpatient Renal Dialysis Service
Medical clinics with approval to provide renal dialysis licensed under PHMCA will be issued an outpatient renal dialysis service licence under HCSA. An outpatient medical service licence is only required if the dialysis centre intends to provide outpatient medical service for patients with other medical conditions (e.g., cater to walk-in patients not on dialysis).
|
Human Tissue Banking | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Human Tissue Banking Service
Hospitals, medical clinics and healthcare establishments with approval to provide tissue banking licensed under PHMCA will be issued a human tissue banking service licence under HCSA.
|
Nuclear Medicine | Transitioning from PHMCA to HCSA for Nuclear Medicine Service - Hospitals and medical clinics offering nuclear medicine therapy licensed under PHMCA will be issued a nuclear medicine service licence under HCSA.
- Existing HCSA nuclear medicine imaging licensees will be re-issued the nuclear medicine service licence.
- Existing HCSA nuclear medicine assay (in vitro) licences will be removed. Existing licensees will have their nuclear medicine assay (in vitro) services mapped as an approved specified service under their clinical laboratory licence.
|
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If you are a new licensee (i.e., not an existing licensee under the PHMCA) or applying for a new licence under HCSA, you will need to do so via the new licence application portal, the Healthcare Application & Licensing Portal (HALP), from 1 June 2023 onwards. If the application is successful, you will receive an approval email notification informing you of the approval, along with a link to print the HCSA licence.
For existing PHMCA licensees who are currently licensed to operate clinics and hospitals, you do not need to apply for a new licence under the HCSA or approval to offer your services via additional modes of service delivery when Phase 2 is implemented. MOH will transit your licence over to HCSA with the relevant modes of service delivery and specified services on transition.
ATTENTION: Click here to let us know if you plan to provide/are providing any of the Phase 2 services, so that we can engage you early to prepare for and process your new HCSA licence:
1. Outpatient Medical Service via Remote Mode of Service Delivery (i.e. teleconsultations by doctors)
2. Outpatient Medical Service via Temporary Premises Mode of Service Delivery (e.g. house calls by medical or dental practitioners)
You will need to apply for the outpatient medical service with the remote and temporary premises mode of service deliveries if you offer both teleconsultations and house calls. If you only provide telemedicine without any house calls, then you only need to apply for the remote mode of service delivery. |
How to apply for a new HCSA licence?
You will need to:
1. Login to HALP using SingPass or CorpPass.
a. Select the types of LHSes, SSes and MOSDs provided
b. Key in licensing details and other service related information
c. Attach supporting documents
d. Submit application and pay licence fees as stated
e. Fill in the self-assessment checklist
2. Receive confirmation on inspection date.
a. Ensure documents are ready for inspection (e.g. MOM’s Registration for Pressure Vessels, NEA’s Licence for Irradiating Equipment)
b. Inspectors may contact you for further clarifications after inspection
3. Receive email notification on application status after all licensing requirements have been met.
4. View e-licence on HALP upon approval.
5. Update on HALP if there are any changes to your licence.
For enquires, you may email us at HCSA_Enquiries@moh.gov.sg.
Table 3: Timelines for licensing matters under HCSA
Licence changes | Deadline |
Note: Please logon to HALP for all licensing matters pertaining to HCSA |
New licence application for Phase 2 licensable services | Submit in HALP from 1 June 2023 onwards |
Renew a licence | Renewals of your HCSA license can be submitted from as early as 6 months before the licence expires. A late renewal fee will be applicable if the renewal is submitted 2 months before the licence expires. If your licence has expired, you will be required to submit a new licence application |
Addition of premises or conveyances to a licence | Submit a new application at least 2 months before the service is provided in that additional premises or conveyance |
Removal of premises or conveyances to a licence | Submit a cessation application at least 1 month before stopping provision of service in that premises or conveyance |
Change of licensee name | Submit a request for change (RFC) application at least 1 month prior to the change |
Any other amendments | Notify MOH at least 10 calendar days before the change |
Notification of cessation | Notification of intention to cease must be made not less than 1 month prior to cessation |
Notification of death of licensee | Director must be notified of the licensee’s death within 1 month |
| Nomination of a nominee for your licence | If you are an individual licensee (not a registered company), you should indicate a nominee for your licence in HALP. The nominee will be the alternative point of contact and perform the duties of the licensee should you be uncontactable. |
Note: it is no longer a requirement for licensees to display their licence in their permanent premises. However, licensees are to provide details of their licence and LHSes if requested by patients.