OTGV #24 – Primary Care Partnership Scheme
Broadcast Date: 13/01/03
For the aged poor, polyclinics may be the only means to treat their common ailments.
But polyclinics aren't as conveniently located as private clinics.
Hi, Welcome to On the Grapevine with me Chong Ching Liang.
The Health Ministry introduced the Primary Care Partnership Scheme or PCPS for the aged poor last March.
It'll allow them to seek treatment at private clinics at polyclinic prices but not all who are eligible are onboard yet.
Dr Steven Ang has a clinic in the Redhill area where there's a high concentration of the aged poor.
"PCPS scheme was started some time in March or April last year and my clinic has been on the scheme since then. We noticed that for my clinic there hasn't been a big demand for this particularly service. Recently I noticed that the Ministry of Health has launched a campaign to recruit more members for the scheme. We would expect an increase in demand for our services."
Currently, there're about 4,600 elderly folks in the scheme and the Ministry hopes to double this number by year's end.
To this end, it's looking towards a more collaborative approach to recruit more needy elderly for the scheme, says MOH's Deputy Secretary Chang Hwee Nee.
"There have been publicity in the media but it still has not reached out to the elderly. So this is really an effort, a collaboration with Lions Befrienders, in the course of their voluntary work, they have come across these needy elderly and we are very appreciative of them identifying these elderly and bringing them here so that our staff can go the extra mile and help them to fill up the forms."
Last month, about 100 elderly from the Mei Ling and Redhill estates signed up for PCPS.
They were identified and bussed to the Ministry by the Lions Befrienders so that ministry staff could help them fill up the PCPS enrolment forms.
Ms Chang explains the experiential benefits for her colleagues.
"This collaboration with Lions Befrienders will give our officers an opportunity to have personal interaction with the elderly. [It'll] give them a greater appreciation of the needs of the Elderly. And I think they will remember well, the next time they develop a scheme or design an application form, they will make sure that scheme is well-communicated and easily understood, and the application process is citizen-friendly."
Another thing to bear in mind would be the convenience of bringing the registration process to the elderly.
The 100 folks who signed up for PCPS last month live in a common block of flats designated for senior citizens
So, it might have been more convenient if the processing had been done where they lived.
In fact, some of them said there was a slight hiccup with the arrangements that day
"We waited for a long time at Redhill! We waited for almost 2 hours for them to pick us up. No one's there to send us here. Later some one came."
More crucially, some elders avoid Singapore General Hospital and its vicinity for superstitious reasons.
An elderly lady from Redhill explains why some of her neighbours didn't show up.
"Only those of us involved with the Senior Citizen centre are invited. But some people don't want to come. When I asked them to come along, they reacted strongly and say they don't want to come. Superstitious you see, they don't want to be near SGH. I asked them but they shooed me away."
But this doesn't mean that those left behind will be forgotten.
Lions Befrienders' executive, Melissa Rodrigues, says her organisation will follow-up on these cases.
"Most of these Elderly here, they actually belong to our sub-centres. For example the elderly here belong to Mei Ling Street and it is a drop-in centre where the elderly actually live in the block in which our centre is built at. From today's exercise we will actually know who are the elderly that actually slipped through the cracks and we can actually track them and actually talk to them one on one and actually explain to them the benefits of this scheme."
In fact, the elderly might be able to make a more informed decision in a familiar setting.
"Even though they can't make it here or they don't want to come, we can actually do the application at the centre itself. I think they will feel more comfortable talking to the staff whom they know, rather than coming to a strange place, talking to strange people."
Despite the problems, those who signed up for PCPS are pleased, as summarised by this elderly lady from Redhill.
(hokien)
"It's very good and very cheap. The senior citizen centre sent us here to apply for the scheme. We're happy. It's very good for us elderly."
She says prior to PCPS, most of them either goes to the polyclinics or not at all due to the high costs of healthcare involved.
But she sees the potential with PCPS
"There are many private GPs. There's one in Block 86, 70-something. We live in Redhill. There's many. But we've never visited a GP so we don't know if they're part of the scheme. We can go ask. See if there's the PCPS sticker on the GP's window. We won't go in if there's no sticker."
The practitioners also welcome this scheme.
Dr Steven Ang Clinic and Surgery has done its share of philanthropy and this scheme will allow more to be helped, says Dr Ang.
"Well, my clinic is located at Redhill where there is a large population of the Elderly. All along we have been seeing poor patients and we have actually been providing services to them either free of charge or at a great discount. With this scheme, the government actually extends its assistance to this group of people directly. It is a win-win situation for everybody involved."
So, for our elderly poor, the next health visit may be to a private G-P below or near their block instead of the polyclinic in the town centre.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
================================
Related Links:
Newsradio938
http://newsradio.mediacorpradio.com
Ministry of Health PCPS Factsheets
http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/elderlycare/pcps/intro.do
Lions Befrienders
http://www.lionsbefrienders.org.sg/
For the aged poor, polyclinics may be the only means to treat their common ailments.
But polyclinics aren't as conveniently located as private clinics.
Hi, Welcome to On the Grapevine with me Chong Ching Liang.
The Health Ministry introduced the Primary Care Partnership Scheme or PCPS for the aged poor last March.
It'll allow them to seek treatment at private clinics at polyclinic prices but not all who are eligible are onboard yet.
Dr Steven Ang has a clinic in the Redhill area where there's a high concentration of the aged poor.
"PCPS scheme was started some time in March or April last year and my clinic has been on the scheme since then. We noticed that for my clinic there hasn't been a big demand for this particularly service. Recently I noticed that the Ministry of Health has launched a campaign to recruit more members for the scheme. We would expect an increase in demand for our services."
Currently, there're about 4,600 elderly folks in the scheme and the Ministry hopes to double this number by year's end.
To this end, it's looking towards a more collaborative approach to recruit more needy elderly for the scheme, says MOH's Deputy Secretary Chang Hwee Nee.
"There have been publicity in the media but it still has not reached out to the elderly. So this is really an effort, a collaboration with Lions Befrienders, in the course of their voluntary work, they have come across these needy elderly and we are very appreciative of them identifying these elderly and bringing them here so that our staff can go the extra mile and help them to fill up the forms."
Last month, about 100 elderly from the Mei Ling and Redhill estates signed up for PCPS.
They were identified and bussed to the Ministry by the Lions Befrienders so that ministry staff could help them fill up the PCPS enrolment forms.
Ms Chang explains the experiential benefits for her colleagues.
"This collaboration with Lions Befrienders will give our officers an opportunity to have personal interaction with the elderly. [It'll] give them a greater appreciation of the needs of the Elderly. And I think they will remember well, the next time they develop a scheme or design an application form, they will make sure that scheme is well-communicated and easily understood, and the application process is citizen-friendly."
Another thing to bear in mind would be the convenience of bringing the registration process to the elderly.
The 100 folks who signed up for PCPS last month live in a common block of flats designated for senior citizens
So, it might have been more convenient if the processing had been done where they lived.
In fact, some of them said there was a slight hiccup with the arrangements that day
"We waited for a long time at Redhill! We waited for almost 2 hours for them to pick us up. No one's there to send us here. Later some one came."
More crucially, some elders avoid Singapore General Hospital and its vicinity for superstitious reasons.
An elderly lady from Redhill explains why some of her neighbours didn't show up.
"Only those of us involved with the Senior Citizen centre are invited. But some people don't want to come. When I asked them to come along, they reacted strongly and say they don't want to come. Superstitious you see, they don't want to be near SGH. I asked them but they shooed me away."
But this doesn't mean that those left behind will be forgotten.
Lions Befrienders' executive, Melissa Rodrigues, says her organisation will follow-up on these cases.
"Most of these Elderly here, they actually belong to our sub-centres. For example the elderly here belong to Mei Ling Street and it is a drop-in centre where the elderly actually live in the block in which our centre is built at. From today's exercise we will actually know who are the elderly that actually slipped through the cracks and we can actually track them and actually talk to them one on one and actually explain to them the benefits of this scheme."
In fact, the elderly might be able to make a more informed decision in a familiar setting.
"Even though they can't make it here or they don't want to come, we can actually do the application at the centre itself. I think they will feel more comfortable talking to the staff whom they know, rather than coming to a strange place, talking to strange people."
Despite the problems, those who signed up for PCPS are pleased, as summarised by this elderly lady from Redhill.
(hokien)
"It's very good and very cheap. The senior citizen centre sent us here to apply for the scheme. We're happy. It's very good for us elderly."
She says prior to PCPS, most of them either goes to the polyclinics or not at all due to the high costs of healthcare involved.
But she sees the potential with PCPS
"There are many private GPs. There's one in Block 86, 70-something. We live in Redhill. There's many. But we've never visited a GP so we don't know if they're part of the scheme. We can go ask. See if there's the PCPS sticker on the GP's window. We won't go in if there's no sticker."
The practitioners also welcome this scheme.
Dr Steven Ang Clinic and Surgery has done its share of philanthropy and this scheme will allow more to be helped, says Dr Ang.
"Well, my clinic is located at Redhill where there is a large population of the Elderly. All along we have been seeing poor patients and we have actually been providing services to them either free of charge or at a great discount. With this scheme, the government actually extends its assistance to this group of people directly. It is a win-win situation for everybody involved."
So, for our elderly poor, the next health visit may be to a private G-P below or near their block instead of the polyclinic in the town centre.
This is Chong Ching Liang for Newsradio 938.
================================
Related Links:
Newsradio938
http://newsradio.mediacorpradio.com
Ministry of Health PCPS Factsheets
http://www.moh.gov.sg/corp/elderlycare/pcps/intro.do
Lions Befrienders
http://www.lionsbefrienders.org.sg/
posted by CHONG Ching-liang | 11:59 AM
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