Skip to main content
About Us

Written Answer by Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower, to Parliamentary Question on Work Injuries Seen by Private and Public Healthcare Providers

Workplace safety and health


NOTICE PAPER NO. 1589 OF 2019 FOR THE SITTING ON OR AFTER 6 MARCH 2019

QUESTION NO. 1179 FOR WRITTEN ANSWER

MP: Mr Louis Ng Kok Kwang

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) what is the current percentage of work injuries or occupational injury cases that are seen by private compared to restructured healthcare providers; and (b) what are the patterns (types of injuries, severity of injuries, sectors, occupations) seen by private compared to those seen by restructured healthcare providers.

Answer 

1. In the past 3 years, around 75% of work injury cases have been seen by public healthcare institutions, while the remaining 25% have been seen by private healthcare providers.

2. The industry and occupation profile of injured workers seen by the public healthcare institutions and private healthcare providers are similar.

3. Nonetheless, a larger proportion of the cases handled by the public healthcare institutions involve serious injuries such as fractures, dislocations and crushing injuries, compared to the private healthcare providers. Correspondingly, private healthcare providers have a larger proportion of less serious cases, such as bruises and sprains, compared to public healthcare institutions.