SINGAPORE, Dec 1 — Singapore has dismissed allegations that it attempted to recruit Malaysian doctors and nurses to fill shortages in its public healthcare system.
Health Minister Ong Ye Kung said Singapore relies predominantly on its own medical workforce, adding that Malaysian doctors form only a small minority, while the remaining doctors come from various countries, including the United Kingdom (UK) and India.
“Not high at all. I do not have the numbers with me, but as I mentioned, well over 90 per cent of our doctors are locals,” he said in response to questions from Malaysian media during a fireside chat with participants of the Malaysian Journalists’ Visit Programme (MJVP) held here recently.
While Singapore does occasionally recruit foreign doctors, he emphasised that they represent only a small fraction of the overall medical workforce.
“From time to time, we do recruit overseas doctors from all sources, the UK, India, Malaysia, but they make up a small proportion of our total,” he said, adding that a recent incident involving a manpower agent appeared to stem from being “too enthusiastic”.
Ong is believed to be referring to a recruitment drive by a private agency, which may have been more aggressive than a formal recruitment in its effort to obtain the services of healthcare professionals from overseas.
Ong said Singapore’s healthcare manpower strategy is built on long-term investment in local training capacity.
He noted that Singapore now operates three national medical schools, at the National University of Singapore (NUS), the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School and the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), in partnership with Imperial College London.
“Three national medical schools produce about 550 doctors each year. Many Singaporeans also study medicine overseas, and we want them to return to serve. So by and large, we rely on our own production of doctors,” he said.
When asked where Malaysian doctors and nurses work within Singapore’s system, the minister said in Singapore’s healthcare sector, about 90 per cent of inpatients — that is, those in hospitals — are treated in the public sector. Given this composition, the majority of care is provided by public hospitals.
He stressed that Singapore and Malaysia should avoid viewing healthcare as a matter of competition.
“This is an area we can work together on. Singaporeans go to Malaysia for certain affordable services, especially with the greater Johor-Singapore linkages. Both sides show a lot of understanding,” he said.
Ong also acknowledged that Singapore faces competition from other countries seeking to recruit its locally trained doctors.
“Healthcare is an area where the whole world is fighting for talent. Some of our doctors are recruited to Australia, New Zealand, the UK or the US. It is the reality of operating in a modern world,” he said. — Bernama