Primary Care Partnership Scheme

9 January 2012

Question no. 139

Name of person: Mr Gan Thiam Poh

Question:

To ask the Minister for Health (a) what is the take-up rate so far by medical clinics/GPs to become partners/members of the Primary Care Partnership Scheme; (b) what is the total number of such partners and what is the number in Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC and Punggol South in particular; and (c) how does the Ministry incentivise more medical clinics/GPs to join the Scheme.

Question no. 158

Name of person: Dr Teo Ho Pin

Question:

To ask the Minister for Health (a) how many Singaporeans have benefited from the Primary Care Partnership Scheme (PCPS) over the last three years; (b) how many General Practitioners (GPs) are currently participating in the PCPS; and (c) what measures are in place to encourage more GP clinics to participate in the scheme.

Answer

1 Today, there are over 450* GP clinics participating in PCPS¹ . For Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC, there are 16 PCPS clinics, with 3 located within Punggol South.  Over the last three years, an average of 12,000² patients benefitted from easy access to subsidised primary healthcare in private GP Clinics through the PCPS each year³.

2 As announced in August last year, PCPS will be enhanced to help more Singaporeans better manage their chronic diseases early and avoid unnecessary complications later. These enhancements, which will be implemented later this month, include lowering the qualifying age for PCPS from 65 to 40 years old and raising the income qualifying criteria from $800 to $1500 per capita monthly household income. This will benefit more middle and low income Singaporeans. Since August, approximately 10,000 people have signed up for PCPS even before the enhanced scheme take effects.

3 To date, an additional 58⁴* clinics island-wide had signed up to participate in the scheme and we expect more GPs to come on board once the expanded PCPS scheme comes into effect. MOH will also strengthen our engagement with the GPs, through Agency for Integrated Care, to encourage more GP to participate in the scheme.

4 In parallel to PCPS, MOH is currently seeking the inputs from the GP community to co-develop the Primary Care Masterplan.  The plan aims to better support GPs in managing patients in the community. We are also looking at ways to streamline procedures such as the process for submission of claims to reduce the administrative work for GPs. I hope to share more details with you shortly.

5 I would like to reassure Mr Gan Thiam Poh and Dr Teo Ho Pin that my Ministry will continue to study ways to encourage more GPs to participate in PCPS, so that it would be more convenient for eligible Singaporeans to seek subsidised care at GP clinics close to their homes.

¹As of 12 Nov 2011, there are 427 PCPS clinics.
²From 1 Jan 2009 to 31 Dec 2009, 10,982 patients made claims. From 1 Jan 2010 to 31 Dec 2010, 12,258 patients made claims. From 1 Jan – 30 Sep 2011, 12,565 patients made claims.
³From 1 Jan 2009 to 30 Sep 2011, total subvention provided was approximately $4.1 million dollars, ($3million for acute, $1.1million for chronic) to a total of 35,805 patients.
⁴Of the 58 new clinics, 28 clinics had approved PCPS status and 30 clinics applications are currently being processed.

¹As of 12 Nov 2011, there are 427 PCPS clinics.
²From 1 Jan 2009 to 31 Dec 2009, 10,982 patients made claims. From 1 Jan 2010 to 31 Dec 2010, 12,258 patients made claims. From 1 Jan – 30 Sep 2011, 12,565 patients made claims.
³From 1 Jan 2009 to 30 Sep 2011, total subvention provided was approximately $4.1 million dollars, ($3million for acute, $1.1million for chronic) to a total of 35,805 patients.
⁴Of the 58 new clinics, 28 clinics had approved PCPS status and 30 clinics applications are currently being processed.