S’pore Sports Institute looking for in-house doctor: Minister

SINGAPORE — The Singapore Sports Institute (SSI), which has been without a resident doctor for the past two years, is searching for an in-house medical officer, Minister for Culture, Community and Youth Lawrence Wong told Parliament yesterday.

He was responding to a question by Nominated Member of Parliament Benedict Tan, who is also Changi General Hospital’s (CGH) chief of sports medicine.

After Dr Cormac O’Muircheartaigh, the institute’s previous medical director, left in 2013 to start his practice, the SSI started a sports-medicine network of doctors to support the nation’s athletes.

It also receives support from CGH, which assigns doctors to the institute on a daily basis, said Dr Tan, president of the Singapore Sailing Federation.

However, this should not be a permanent arrangement as the SSI needs a resident medical director to plan and strategise its growth to meet the needs of national athletes, he added.

In response to Dr Tan’s concerns, Mr Wong gave the reassurance that the authorities would do all they could to provide local athletes with the “best possible and timely medical support”.

“Any athlete who needs medical care should and will get timely medical care. So, we will find the best possible solution to provide such medical support. We have to work through various solutions and it probably would entail a mix of both a good network of partners as well as capabilities in-house,” Mr Wong said.

He added that the SSI is building up and strengthening its capabilities, including setting up a team of physiotherapists and trainers. Beyond medical care, it is also doing more to go upstream.

Mr Wong said: “For example, doing more in terms of injury prevention, advising athletes on the steps they should take to minimise injuries, conducting injury-prevention workshops ... looking at the kinds of coaching regime that athletes go through to ensure they do not over-train and take the necessary precautions.”

Dr Tan said the points made by Mr Wong were important for the development of the SSI because while hospitals have the necessary structure for comprehensive treatment, follow-up and preventive care should be conducted at the institute. The SSI needs an in-house medical team capable of attending to injuries and coming up with a plan to educate athletes on injury prevention, he added.

“A resident doctor can also look into building the capabilities of the SSI medical centre that meet their needs and complement existing services at hospitals,” said Dr Tan.

There are currently 12 sports-medicine doctors at CGH, two at Tan Tock Seng Hospital and three at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.