The Public Health Preparedness Clinic (PHPC) scheme serves the primary healthcare needs of Singaporeans in times of national need. They provide subsidised treatment, investigations and medications during outbreaks, and play an important role during public health outbreaks. For the COVID-19 outbreak, subsidies will be provided for patients diagnosed with respiratory infections. Go to this website to key in your street name to locate a clinic’s location near you. According to the Ministry of Health (MOH), there are currently over 900 general practitioner (GP) clinics designated as PHPCs. These were activated previously to deal with haze and the H1N1 influenza pandemic. Members of the public can also identify these preparedness clinics from the PHPC decal at these clinics.
Prepared for Outbreaks
The scheme came into force progressively from 18 February 2020 to care for patients with respiratory symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat and runny nose. Patients suspected to have pneumonia will be referred to the hospitals for further tests and care. “The PHPCs have been guided on the appropriate care protocols according to the assessed risk and diagnosis of each patient, and will be supplied with the necessary Personal Protection Equipment to carry out their role. “The activation of PHPCs and polyclinics will allow us to enhance and tighten disease surveillance. We would be better able to detect the virus earlier, and reduce the risk of further transmission,” said MOH. Here are more details on the PHPC scheme. (Source: Ministry of Health)
