Mediacorp NewsCommunity-based mental health services have been extended to all National University Polyclinics (NUP) polyclinics in the western region of Singapore. Health and Mind Clinics (HMC) providing community mental health care in the seven polyclinics located in Bukit Batok, Bukit Panjang, Jurong, Pioneer, Queenstown, Choa Chu Kang, and Clementi, have served 2,667 patients over the past two years, with the majority suffering from depression and anxiety.
Despite an 18 per cent increase in patient visits at the HMC from 2022 to 2023, many of these patients were successfully managed in the primary care setting towards recovery, and only 9.7 per cent of the patients seen in HMC needed to be referred onward to psychiatry specialists. To further meet the increased mental health needs of the community, patients from the National University Health System with stable schizophrenia and stable obsessive compulsive disorder on common oral medications are now being transitioned to continue their care at NUP polyclinics, where care teams will continue to provide for their mental and physical healthcare needs holistically.
An additional 91 doctors have received training to manage mental health conditions, and psychologists are educating nurses on assessing and managing such conditions. Mdm Wong, a patient at Queenstown Polyclinic, shared her experience of recovery under the care of a multidisciplinary team after being diagnosed with postnatal adjustment disorder.
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