Emergency fees 'halted abuse'

Raising charges for emergency treatment and setting up walk-in clinics next door have been effective in stamping out abuse of casualty wards, according to the chief of Singapore's biggest public hospital.

As in Hong Kong, Singapore hospitals used to face abuse of accident and emergency services.

The Hospital Authority in Hong Kong has proposed that charges be imposed. The authority also plans to set up 24-hour general outpatient clinics next to some accident and emergency rooms as a pilot scheme.

Similar measures have been implemented in Singapore.

The eight public hospitals in Singapore doubled charges for attending emergency rooms in 1997, from S$35 (HK$168) to S$70.

Some hospitals also set up a walk-in clinic next door, either run by private practitioners or by the hospitals themselves, for patients with minor illness.

Lawrence Lim Hong-haw, chief executive officer of Singapore General Hospital, said that since the new measures, the percentage of non-emergency cases at the accident and emergency room had dropped from 33 per cent to eight per cent.