Fast ageing population may pose a challenge for emergency care in Singapore

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Doctors said that the fast ageing population in Singapore may pose a challenge for emergency care in years to come. Currently, most emergency care departments in hospitals are understaffed. However, doctors said that this has to be worked on in order to cater to the needs of the ageing population.

This was among the issues being discussed at the opening ceremony of the Annual Scientific Meeting for the Society for Emergency Medicine in Singapore on Saturday morning.

By 2030, one-third of Singapore's population will be aged 65 years and older. With the ageing population, doctors said more help will be needed -- especially in the long-term care sector.

Dr Phua Dong Haur, consultant of the department of emergency medicine at the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, said: "In elderly people, they can have chronic disease like diabetes. So for infection of the lungs, it is not just the infection but they can be dehydrated.

"You have got to make sure that the fluid goes in. But when the fluid goes in, you cannot overload the heart as they might have underlying heart problems. Their kidney may not be functioning so well so they might not be able to drain the fluid properly. The heart can go into heart failure and their diabetes can go out of control."

Another challenge is hospital resources.

Dr Phua added: "We are facing problems with resource because hospitals are nowadays full, a lot of them are very well utilised. So sometimes it's very difficult to get patients up into the ward and they remain in the emergency department and we have to take care of them, which we don't mind but it is a big drain on resources."

The Health Ministry also recognises the importance of rendering prompt intervention for critical emergencies, as it is directly related to better patient outcomes and survival.

Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said: "We have collaborated with various agencies, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Singapore Civil Defence Force and training and education providers, to strengthen the whole continuum of care and provide an integrated system from the pre-hospital to the hospital setting.

"We will continue to review and enhance current work processes to improve the standards of emergency care."

Mr Gan added that emergency medicine has grown into an established medical specialty with its special interest areas like toxicology, emergency trauma and cardiac care.