It’s been 2 years since Covid-19 hit Singapore, and healthcare workers are still hustling every day to serve the needs of patients.
On 16 Feb, Covid-19 multi-ministry task force co-chair Minister Gan Kim Yong said our healthcare system is stable and coping well, even as the country is tackling the Omicron wave.
However, an anonymous healthcare worker has penned an open letter to him, claiming that his comments are “out of touch” with the situation on the ground.
The person took to Instagram to shed light on the reality of Singapore’s healthcare system in hopes of seeing more transparency and support from authorities.
On Monday (21 Feb), @thehonesthealthcareworker posted an open letter on Instagram, addressing Minister Gan’s statement about Singapore’s healthcare system.
In their post, they said nurses are actually not coping well.
The nurse to patient ratio doubled from 1:6 to 1:12. Some were even called back on their off days after their colleagues tested positive.
If the system was coping well as stated, they asked,
Why did the ministry just issue an urgent call for volunteers to supplement a severe crunch on nursing manpower?
They added that it’s no surprise that their colleagues plan to leave.
Respectfully, sir, [the system] is not coping well. It is on a slow road to collapse.
@thehonesthealthcareworker said they understood the government’s need to alleviate stress from the public and avoid panic.
However, they perceived Minister Gan’s remarks about the system as “out of touch with the reality on the ground”.
They wrote,
Our working conditions have worsened significantly and yet there has been no change to our remuneration or increase in practical support.
They concluded their open letter with an appeal to authorities to be frank, and supportive in exchange for their gruelling efforts during this trying time.
According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), Minister Gan said on 16 Feb that our healthcare system is stable and coping with Covid-19 infections as most positive cases had mild or no symptoms.
This was after Singapore confirmed a record-high 19,420 positive cases on 15 Feb.
In that past week, Singapore also had an average of 11,000 positive cases per day for our 5.7 million population.
As Singapore slowly transitions towards an endemic approach, authorities should also listen to the voices of healthcare workers as they’ve been under pressure to treat patients since the pandemic started.
We hope that the ministry can administer a high level of care to patients and healthcare workers and ensure that their needs are adequately met.
In the meantime, members of the public can support the public healthcare system by staying home.
They’re also encouraged to visit GPs instead of A&E departments for non-emergencies, which would help lessen hospital staff’s workload.
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Featured image adapted from Facebook.
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