AVERAGE WAITING TIME FOR SENIORS TO ACCESS CARE SERVICES

Nominated Member of Parliament
Assoc Prof Walter Theseira

To ask the Minister for Health for each year from 2016 to 2018, what is the average waiting time for seniors to access (i) home-based care services (ii) daycare services and (iii) respite care services, including emergency respite care.

Answer 

MOH has been increasing home and centre-based care capacity to meet the needs of seniors who require these services. From 2015 to 2018, we added 2,300 home care places and 2,700 day care places, and vacancies have exceeded waitlists at the national level for both services. Waiting times for home care services, day care services and respite care services vary depending on factors such as administrative processing time, care needs of the seniors, family preferences and available capacity of specific providers.

Between 2016 and 2018, the median waiting time for home care services was around
7 days and the median waiting time for day care services was around 20 days. We do not have detailed waiting times for respite care services. Typically, the time taken to access planned centre-based respite care services is within two weeks. Caregivers who face emergency situations that require more immediate access to respite services can call the Singapore Silver Line (1800-650-6060) or approach the Agency for Integrated Care (AICare) Links for assistance. For seniors who require interim post-discharge support at home while awaiting long-term care arrangements, the Interim Caregiver Service is also available for patients discharged from hospitals.