Sufficiency of Number of Practising Psychiatrists and Psychologists in Singapore

NOTICE PAPER NO. 738
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR ORAL ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON OR AFTER 5 OCTOBER 2021

Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Ms He Ting Ru, 
MP for Sengkang GRC

Question No. 1896

To ask the Minister for Health (a) whether the Ministry considers the number of practising psychiatrists and psychologists in Singapore to be sufficient; (b) if not, what is being done to increase the numbers; and (c) what measures are being taken to address burnout in mental health practitioners.

Answer

       There are 263 psychiatrists registered with the Singapore Medical Council as at end-2020 and 551 psychologists on the Singapore Psychological Society register as at September 2021. This works out to be 4.6 psychiatrists and 9.7 psychologists per 100k population.

2.    There is no international consensus on the optimal ratio of psychiatrists and psychologists to population. MOH will continue to work with stakeholders and agencies such as MOE and MSF to assess the need and monitor the number of mental health professionals to ensure appropriate access to and quality of mental health services.

3.    All our healthcare workers including mental health practitioners as well as those supporting their colleagues at the frontline, have worked very hard to care for their patients throughout this period.  Notwithstanding their passion and strong sense of mission, our healthcare workers face tremendous stress and are at risk of burnout.  To address burnout among our healthcare workers, mental health practitioners and other healthcare staff, our public healthcare institutions have stepped up their outreach to staff on the support measures available to them.  This includes counselling services, staff helplines, and peer support programmes.  Let’s continue to demonstrate our recognition and appreciation to all our healthcare workers.