Healthcare
Singapore’s healthcare system is internationally renowned, with a high standard of medical care supported by state-of-the-art facilities.
These services are also generally accessible and affordable to everyone.
Outpatient Medical Services
Outpatient services are offered by both government polyclinics and private clinics. Apart from medical care, services at polyclinics include laboratory and x-ray services, dental services, immunisation and health screening. Polyclinics can be found in major Housing Development Board (HDB) estates. Check out the full listing of polyclinics here.
If you prefer to consult a private doctor, you can find a General Practitioner (GP) in practically every neighbourhood. In fact, there is often more than one clinic within a neighbourhood. Anyone can walk into these private clinics although to cut down on waiting time, you may wish to call first for an appointment.
The operating hours of these private clinics vary, but most of them operate from 9am to 5pm on weekdays, 9am to 1pm on Saturdays, and are closed on Sundays and public holidays. There are also 24-hour clinics.
Consultation charges at a GP range from SGD 18 to SGD 55 per visit, excluding medication. Some GPs make house calls for emergencies.
For a list of clinics in Singapore, visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) directory.
Hospitals
Public Hospitals
There are seven public hospitals in Singapore comprising five general hospitals, a women’s and children’s hospital and a psychiatry hospital. Non-Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents may only stay in the A (1 or 2 beds per room) and B1 (4 beds). The Ministry of Health compiles a list of complete charges including doctors’ fees for a comprehensive range of procedures at public hospitals here.
Six national specialty centres provide cancer, cardiac, eye, skin, neuroscience and dental care.
There are also community hospitals for intermediate healthcare for the convalescent sick and aged who do not require the care of the general hospitals.
For medical emergencies, you may head straight for a hospital’s Accident and Emergency (A&E) unit. Bring along some form of identification and a doctor’s referral letter, if any.
At public hospitals, non-citizens may only stay in the non-subsidised wards, namely A (1 or 2 beds per room) and B1 (4 beds). Ward charges for Class A and Class B1 wards are SGD 200 and SGD 145 per day onwards. Private hospitals charge from SGD 310 per day for a single room. These charges exclude treatment and other fees.
For a full list of hospitals in Singapore, visit the Ministry of Health (MOH) website.
Medical Insurance
If you hold an insurance policy in your previous country of residence, do check if the company can service your policy here, to cover your critical illness or hospitalisation bills in Singapore.
Singapore citizens and Permanent Residents are required to maintain a Medisave account as part of their Central Provident Fund (CPF), which is contributed from their wages and by their employers. Medisave is a national medical savings scheme which helps individuals put aside part of their income into their Medisave Accounts to meet their future personal or immediate family's hospitalisation, day surgery and certain outpatient expenses. It can also be drawn out to pay part of hospitalisation bills as well as outpatient treatments for four chronic diseases, namely diabetes, high blood pressure, lipid disorder and stroke . CPF members can also choose to be covered under MediShield which is a basic, low cost medical insurance scheme run by the CPF Board.
You may also consider buying private health insurance if you are not covered under Medisave. These can be basic, covering only inpatient hospital stays, or comprehensive, to include inpatient and outpatient care, lab tests, x-rays and other medical services. There are many reputable insurance agencies in Singapore which offer attractive premium rates and coverage. Do shop around to find a policy that suits your lifestyle and needs.