23
Wednesday, November 28, 1973
Regionalisation meant that if a patient had to "go all the way,
he would first attend a general clinic, would then be referred to a
specialist clinic, and subsequently, depending on the condition and
nature of his illness, admitted either to a district or a regional hospital.
There was a further bi-directional flow of patients between a
district and a regional hospital. Patients requiring more sophisticated
treatment would be referred from a district to a regional hospital, while
patients already past the acute stage of their illness could be transferred
from the regional to the district hospital for convalescence.
With such a plan, all beds in government and assisted hospitals
will be used to the maximam," Dr. Choa emphasised.
Another advantage was that each region could be administered as
an individual unit by an officer based in a regional office, and not in the
headquarters of the department. This formed part of the streamlining of
the administration of the medical and health services which he intended to
introduce so as to effectively implement the recommendations of the 10-year
development plan.
of family planning, Dr. Choa said he had in mind the creation of a
division in the department for family health services, headed by an officer
with experience of all aspects of family planning and maternal and child
health.
The ultimate aim of the recent integration of family planning within
the department's maternal and child health service was to enable "all those
who wish to practise family planning, and relieve themselves of the burden
of excessive child bearing, to do so conveniently and efficiently at a
clinic nearest to their homea.t
/24