Mental Health Service in Singapore

The year 1928 marked the beginning of the mental health service in Singapore. From a large asylum which provided mainly custodial care the mentally ill were managed by a handful of expatriate medical pioneers and nurses. Drugs were limited and hospitalisations lasted years. The scene has changed tremendously over the last six decades. Today the Mental Health Service in Singapore is largely provided by the public sector with contributions from private and voluntary organisations. It provides a comprehensive and integrated programme consisting of both hospital-based and community-based treatment programmes with the objectives to promote good mental health for everyone as well as to provide the best possible treatment for those afflicted with mental illnesses of all types. With the rapid development of community-based mental healthcare, several changes have taken place to reflect this trend. Besides introducing a wide range of community support services and greater liaison with primary care givers, the need to educate medical students and doctors, members of the public, people involved in healthcare in the voluntary sector and others about mental health and illness has been recognised to be an important component in the delivery of good mental healthcare. As a step forward the National Mental Health Programme has been launched by the Ministry of Health in 1993 to further improve the mental health service that is currently available (Fig 1). The newly established Institute of Mental Health will serve as the education, training and research arm of the National Mental Health Programme. Together with the new Woodbridge Hospital, mental healthcare in the future will be professionally organised, coordinated and community-orientated.