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IF ALL goes according to plan, Singapore will have one nurse for every 220 people by 2015.
That is the target that the Health Ministry is working towards, said Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said in Parliament on Monday.
Responding to queries from Dr Lim Wee Kiak (Sembawang GRC), Mr Khaw said the ratio now stands at one nurse for every 249 people, which is a significant improvement over the ratio of one for every 306 people in 2001.
'Increasing the nurse to population ratio is part of the strategy to enhance the working conditions for our nurses, so that hopefully they will have more time to look after patients, and have better work-life balance as well,' he said.
Having more highly skilled nurses would also help relieve doctors' load so that they, too, would have more time to tend to patients, he added.
Currently, 18,400 nurses are actively practising here. To meet the target, the ministry will have to recruit 40 per cent more nurses, by training more local ones, and hiring more foreign nurses.
It has already increased the number of nurses who are trained here, from 728 a year in 2001 to 1,875 a year now. The annual intake for local nursing courses will be further raised to 2,000 a year.
Foreign nurses now make up about 15 per cent of the total number here.
'There is scope to raise this proportion if necessary, and I think it is necessary,' Mr Khaw said.
The ministry will also work at attracting and retaining people in the profession, by continuing to enhance the image of the nursing profession and getting employers to provide better career opportunities and working conditions.
Pay raises, and broadening nurses' scope of work and training have reduced the attrition rate of nurses in the public sector from 14 per cent in 2001 to 9 per cent last year.
Mr Khaw said: 'Our efforts have seen results, both in terms of increased student interest in nursing, and the reduced attrition of nurses from the health-care sector. But we must not relent in our effort to compete for our fair share of talent.'
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