By Shukry Rashid
Following the announcement by the Health Ministry (MOH) on 18 January 2017 on the reorganisation of the healthcare system, Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU) General Secretary Diana Chia said that the union could work closely with stakeholders to ensure that its members will not be adversely affected by the reorganisation.
“The union will continue to hold engagement sessions with our members to address their concerns and clarify queries regarding the change. We will also continue to work with the relevant stakeholders to facilitate the transition of the affected healthcare workers,” she said.
MOH said that almost all workers would continue in their current roles within their current teams. It added that a small number may be re-deployed as the new clusters optimise their manpower.
Reorganisation
MOH will reorganise the public healthcare system into three integrated clusters to better meet Singaporeans’ future healthcare needs.
National Healthcare Group (NHG) and Alexandra Health System (AHS) will be merged to form the Central region; Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) and Eastern Health Alliance (EHA) will be merged to form the Eastern group; while National University Health System (NUHS) and Jurong Health Services (JurongHealth) will be merged to form the Western region.
The reorganisation is expected to be completed by early 2018.
Each new cluster will also have a fuller range of facilities, capabilities, services and networks across different care settings. The combined strengths and talents aim to deliver more comprehensive health promotions, disease prevention and rehabilitative care for the respective regions.
