The waiting time to see a psychiatrist or psychologist in public healthcare institutions is far too long, a Nominated Member of Parliament said
An inter-agency task force will be releasing a full report on the national strategy for this area of healthcare very soonDuring an adjournment motion on Tuesday , Dr Syed Harun Alhabsyi — in his first speech as NMP — also called on the Government to look into the struggles that people with mental conditions face with their health insurance coverage and claims.
These include the Health Promotion Board's MindSG portal, and setting up Well-being Circles to provide citizens with the skills to care for their own mental well-being and of those around them. On the quality of mental healthcare, Dr Syed said that compared to the Institute of Mental Health, psychiatric departments in restructured hospitals are smaller but still address equally challenging and complex cases.
In his speech, Dr Syed also noted that cultural, religious and social influences need to be considered more in administering care to patients with mental health conditions. “Some find it disproportionately more challenging to secure insurance coverage even for physical health conditions, even though the specific mental health condition they have — or may have had in the past — does not necessarily bear a correlation to a prospective risk of physical ailment per se.”
"This move upstream means we can avoid over-medicalising mental health conditions and instead invest our resources in the promotion of well-being and early intervention," she said.
Source: Healthcare Press (healthcarepress.net)