Why Singaporeans are waiting hours at A&E — and what hospitals want you to do instead
SINGAPORE, May 15 — Several hospitals here including Changi General Hospital (CGH), Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH), have been seeing unusually high volumes of patients at their emergency departments (EDs), causing long waiting times.
CGH and SKH advised the public via Facebook yesterday to visit their EDs only for serious or life-threatening conditions, and to consult general practitioners or polyclinics for minor symptoms such as cough, sore throat or runny nose, The Straits Times reported.
KTPH, which began seeing a spike in ED cases after the recent long weekend, said the rise was not mainly due to Covid-19, despite a small increase in infections.
Health authorities said on May 13 that while there has been a rise in Covid-19 cases, current variants do not appear more transmissible or severe than earlier strains.
At 5.30pm on May 14, KTPH's website listed a wait time of 107 minutes with 135 patients in queue, dropping to 71 minutes and 124 patients by 6.30pm.
KTPH said its emergency department remains fully operational and under control, and that patients with critical conditions will still be seen immediately.
The Straits Times reported that during its visit to CGH yesterday, a notice outside the A&E department warned of waits lasting at least five to eight hours due to the surge in patients.
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