All health care professionals are registered with relevant bodies--doctors with the Singapore Medical Council, nurses and midwives with the Singapore Nursing Board, dentists with the Dental Board, pharmacists with the Singapore Pharmacy Board, and contact lens practitioners with the Contact Lens Practitioners Board.

Private and public hospitals

   Full-fledged private hospitals, such as Gleneagles, Mount Elizabeth and Thomson, are equipped to offer general and specialised medical treatments. Expect to pay more for better service. Government and government restructured hospitals include: Kandang Kerbau, National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Changi General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng and Ang Mo Kio.
   If there is an emergency, the following have 24-hour A&E or outpatient departments:

• Public Hospitals:

• Singapore General Hospital - Tel: 6222-3322
• Tan Tock Seng Hospital - Tel: 6256-6011
• National University Hospital - Tel: 6772-5555
• Changi General Hospital - Tel: 6788-8833

  Private Hospitals:

• Mount Elizabeth Hospital - Tel: 6731-2218, 6731-2219
• Gleneagles Hospital - Tel: 6470-5688, 6470-5700
• Mount Alvernia Hospital (24 hr outpatient) - Tel: 6347-6688
• East Shore Hospital - Tel: 6340-8666
• Thomson Medical Centre (24 hr outpatient) - Tel: 6256-9494

   The trend is for different hospitals to offer specialised services. Alexandra, Changi, National University Hospital, Singapore General Hospital and Tan Tock Seng provide multi-disciplinary inpatient and specialist outpatient services, as well as 24-hour accident and emergency services. In addition, National University Hospital and Singapore General Hospital provide specialised medical services such as coronary bypass operations, in-vitro fertilisation and microvascular surgery. These hospitals have also successfully performed heart and liver transplants.

   Four other hospitals also have specialised functions: Kandang Kerbau in obstetrics and gynaecology, Woodbridge and View Road in psychiatry, and Tan Tock Seng in the management of communicable diseases at its Communicable Diseases Centre.
   Ang Mo Kio Community Hospital provides an intermediate level of hospital care in a community setting for patients who need a longer period of convalescence and rehabilitation.
   The Geriatric Centre at Alexandra Hospital is a one-stop treatment facility with a range of hospital and community-based services for the elderly sick. 

Specialist centres

   There are also national centres for the treatment of eye, heart and skin problems:

• The Singapore National Eye Centre provides outpatient care for complex eye problems.
• The Singapore Heart Centre is a one-stop ambulatory centre for heart patients offering integrated activities and programmes for cardiology and cardio-thoracic surgery.
• The National Skin Centre provides outpatient treatment of various skin conditions.

Dental services

   The government runs 13 dental clinics, including one at the National University Hospital. In addition, there are six dental clinics sited in polyclinics that provide basic dental care such as check-ups, scalings, fillings, extractions and dentures. There are also about 421 private dental clinics conveniently located in the city centre and around housing estates.

Pharmaceuticals

   Singapore's Pharmaceutical Department has several programmes to ensure safe and quality products:

• Product registration of both Western and Chinese proprietary medicines and cosmetic products
• Licensing of pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturers, importers, wholesales and retail pharmacies
• Sampling and testing of licensed products in the market for quality
• Monitoring of adverse reactions caused by drugs or other products under purview

   There are pharmacies located at every hospital, while for more common drugs, you can go to anyone of the chain of Guardian or Apex pharmacies located in most big shopping centres.

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