Acute psychiatry services to be expanded: MOH
SINGAPORE - Acute psychiatry services will be expanded across all healthcare clusters to meet increasing demand, so that more patients will have greater access to help when they urgently need it.
Dr Koh Poh Koon, Senior Minister of State for Health said this in a speech at the Singapore Mental Health Conference at Singapore Expo) on July 16.
Mental health services within acute hospitals remain an important and significant touchpoint for individuals with acute mental health needs requiring specialist care and for those in crisis, he said.
Acute psychiatry services include inpatient and outpatient services.
Currently, inpatient psychiatric care in Singapore is available at six out of 11 public hospitals. These are the Institute of Mental Health (IMH), Tan Tock Seng Hospital, National University Hospital, Changi General Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Sengkang Hospital.
Outpatient specialist mental health services are available in IMH and all acute hospitals.
Dr Koh also launched a practice guide for Singapore's tiered care model for mental health. This guide was jointly developed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) , Ministry of Social and Family Development, and Agency for Integrated Care (AIC) , with input from numerous stakeholders. The guide is available on the MOH website.
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The guide aims to standardise assessment methods and referral procedures across service providers based on the intensity and stability of clients' symptoms, and the types of care required .
For example, a Community Outreach Team (Crest) – a Tier 2 service under the national strategy – may refer a distressed individual with moderate mental health needs to a Community Intervention Team (Comit), which is a Tier 3 service, if a standardised assessment tool has determined that the client requires further diagnosis and/or psychosocial intervention, explained Dr Koh.
With the practice guide, there will be greater consistency in how service providers deliver care and help their clients navigate the mental health ecosystem.
To begin with , the practice guide focuses on the management of depression, anxiety and suicidality, and may be expanded to cover other less common mental health conditions in the future, he said.
In addition, MOH will roll out a pocket guide for members of the public to more easily identify the types of mental health support and services available. Dr Koh said more details will be provided at a later date.
The 8th edition of Singapore Mental Health Conference will run from July 16-17, with a heavy focus on digital mental health and artificial intelligence.It is jointly organised by IMH, National Council of Social Service, AIC , and the Health Promotion Board.
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