MOH probes emergency response lapse after senior faced faulty call button in assisted-living flat

SINGAPORE - The Health Ministry has asked Vanguard Healthcare, which operates Singapore’s first public assisted-living housing facility, to establish what went wrong after an 85-year-old woman pressed an emergency call button but no help came.

The woman had fallen in the shower and hurt her hip on Sept 2. An ambulance was only called to Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok over two hours after the fall, after her neighbour heard her calling for help.

In a written parliamentary response on Oct 6, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung apologised to the resident.

“This should not have happened. I can understand the distress this incident would have caused her and her family,” he said.

Non-Constituency MP Andre Low had asked what system-wide service standards govern community care apartments’ 24-hour emergency response, and whether the ministry will require independent checks.

Ong said that community care apartments provide community and home care support, rather than clinical or medical services, and are therefore not regulated under the Healthcare Services Act.

Instead, MOH sets out its requirements for the delivery of services through service level agreements with the operators. These include the requirement for a 24/7 emergency response to be delivered in a prompt, efficient and professional manner.

While Vanguard is a private company under MOH Holdings, it is expected to fully meet its contractual service level agreement requirements. Any breaches are dealt with “at an arm’s length” - no differently from how other service providers are treated, he added.

Ong said that following the incident, MOH had directed Vanguard to conduct a formal root cause analysis.

He added that the firm has almost completed its checks on emergency call buttons in Harmony Village and engaged an independent consultant to conduct a review of the incident and its emergency response arrangements.

The emergency call button is part of a basic service package that residents in community care apartments are required to pay for. The package also includes getting help with day-to-day matters like simple home repairs and letter reading services.

MOH will review the review’s findings when they are ready, Ong said. The ministry will establish what went wrong, including whether there were shortcomings in the equipment, operating procedures, response arrangements or oversight.

“Where lapses are established, we will require Vanguard to remedy them and implement the necessary improvement measures,” he said.

This includes considering whether more specific service standards, additional independent assurance or system-wide reporting requirements are needed. This will be strengthened where necessary, he added.

Vanguard Healthcare said in a statement on Sept 24 that it carried out a preliminary review with the vendor for the call button, and identified a technical issue that “may have affected the transmission of the alert from that specific call button to Vanguard Healthcare staff”.

Jason Chan, acting director for community care services at Vanguard Healthcare, said it has since conducted checks on emergency call buttons across Harmony Village and reinforced response procedures with its staff.

The woman’s daughter Mary Aw said her mother, Soh Hock Lye, fell in the shower, and pressed the emergency call button in the toilet.

When Soh – unclothed and wet from her shower – realised no one was coming, she dragged herself to the main door and called for help, catching the attention of a neighbour.

Aw, 62, said her mother had hip surgery on Sept 3 and is still in hospital.

Isabelle Liew is a journalist at The Straits Times. She covers housing issues in Singapore, with a focus on public housing.