Singapore: A modern healthcare tourism destination

The journey of a medical tourist visiting another country for treatment can be quite predictable. The hospital could be expectedly routine, the staff stiff-collared, the food unsurprising and the overall ambience? As anticipated, what else?

However, imagine an experience where you could shop for your favourite dress and accompanying nail-polish on your wireless tablet and have it delivered in an hour by your hospital bedside. Or the fact that you could order the choicest dessert post-recovery and have it given to you from the hospital’s state-of-the-art kitchen. Wouldn’t this be a memorable and ‘un-hospital-like’ experience?

Well then, welcome to Singapore, a modern high-tech healthcare tourism hub.

Singapore: At the cutting-edge of medical treatment

The medical tourism market is projected to be worth HK$114 billion in the Asia-Pacific economies within the next two to three years. With a rise in the burden of diseases meshed with growing medical complexities, a larger number of patients are now requiring highly complex surgeries and treatments and Singapore certainly has an edge in such specialist cases, reinforcing its status as a cutting-edge healthcare tourism destination.

Leveraging advanced healthcare technology by virtue of having a large specialist medical fraternity that possesses global experience through working in some of the world’s most renowned healthcare institutions, Singapore is credibly seen as having more experienced doctors and higher standards of sophisticated equipment. This has made medical tourism a highly successful concept in Singapore with international patients coming to the country for health screenings as well as for high-end surgical procedures in specialities like cardiology, neurology, oncology, obstetrics, gynaecology, ophthalmology, organ transplants, orthopaedics and paediatrics. Moreover, the country has expertise in advanced cancer treatment and major abdominal, blood vessel, bypass and minimally-invasive surgeries and robotic operations.

Hence, overseas patients are naturally gravitating to this nation, which is quickly emerging as a fulcrum for advanced healthcare.

Singapore: The emerging axis of experiential healthcare

The profile of the average medical tourists to Singapore has changed over the years in the sense that they no longer seek treatment only when they fall ill. There is a surge in medical tourists seeking preventive treatments or reversal of lifestyle-related ailments. For instance, they may come for routine colonoscopy and combine it with a few days of exploration, shopping and sightseeing.

Singapore is emerging as the axis for providing medical tourists with holistic experiential healthcare where the certainty of being looked after well goes beyond just healthcare. For instance, instead of just being treated with medication, patients are preferring medical services where they are respected and cared for.

Hospitals in Singapore are increasingly catering to these evolving expectations by providing hospital rooms and facilities that are more ‘hotel-like’ and doctors and other caregiver staff who can speak their own language. Singapore specialises in this ‘value-added’ treatment that focuses on wellness and encourages patients to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Singapore: Another word for ‘peace of mind’

The small island nation of Singapore, a multi-cultural society, is well-known for its stringent laws and regulations, particularly in areas involving cleanliness. These regulations are naturally carried over to the nation’s ultra-high quality levels in healthcare and world-class facilities, making it an ideal destination for medical travellers looking for modern infrastructure, a clean, safe and welcoming environment and English-speaking medical professionals. This is on top of an efficient transportation system, wide range of accommodation options and a large variety of leisure offerings to enhance the experience in Singapore.

Most hospitals and speciality centres in the nation cater to medical tourists and practically all of them offer high-quality healthcare. Most major hospitals in Singapore have international accreditations from the Joint Commission International (JCI), ISO or OHSAS. Besides, the Health Sciences Authority of Singapore and the Singapore Accreditation Council control and regulate the certification of medical devices and other health products.

In effect, Singapore is a highly urbanised, orderly and spotless country and hence, medical tourists can avoid the chaotic environment that is typical to some Asian countries. So if you are looking for peace-of-mind, Singapore is ready to welcome you.

Raffles Hospital: A top-grade international hospital

Though Singapore has a large number of hospitals, the one that stands out among the pack is Raffles Hospital.

Located conveniently at the heart of Singapore, Raffles Hospital is a full-service private hospital offering comprehensive specialist services combined with advanced medical technology. The hospital aims to maintain Singapore’s leadership as a regional healthcare hub by providing more complex procedures such as neuro-vascular interventional procedures, targeted cancer treatments, heart surgeries, orthopaedic surgeries and fertility treatments.

Patients are in safe hands when one considers the fact that the innovative Raffles Hospital Group Practice Model embraces a collaborative care approach and enables its medical specialists to offer team-based care that is especially important for patients who have multiple medical conditions and require the care of more than one doctor. As a team, specialists diagnose and treat patients efficiently. Concurrently, costs are kept low by not repeating consultations or examinations unnecessarily.

The fact that such top-class healthcare services, dispensed at Raffles Hospital, has not gone unnoticed among overseas medical tourists as more than 35 per cent of Raffles Hospital’s patients are foreigners, comprising nationals from more than 100 countries.

And yes, the team at Raffles Hospital can speak a plethora of languages – Bengali, Mandarin, Bahasa Indonesian, Malay, Russian, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Myanmar, Khmer, Korean, Arabic and Japanese. Hence, even if English is not your strong point, there should be no worries over communication. So if you are travelling to Singapore, you can very well expect to be greeted at a hospital with: “Aashun. Kemon aachen?”

Why are an increasing number of patients choosing Raffles Hospital?

Understanding how it feels to be ill and in a foreign land, Raffles Hospital has set up the Raffles International Patients Centre (Raffles IPC) to provide personalised care for international patients.

Raffles Hospital, JCI-accredited since 2008 and the largest integrated private healthcare provider in Singapore, offers 24-hour emergency services, family medicine services, health screenings and a wide range of multi-disciplinary specialist clinics. It is equipped with tastefully-appointed wards, day surgery centres, angiography suites, delivery suites, operating theatres, intensive care unit and neonatal intensive care unit. It also has its own radiology, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, dietetics, rehabilitation and traditional Chinese medicine departments.

With a view to providing a welcome divergence to patients in a bid to rejuvenate their post-treatment experience, in 2016, Raffles established Raffles Holland V, a healthcare, fitness and wellness mall that houses a curated list of tenants to provide unique dining, beauty, lifestyle and personal banking experiences. Moreover, the mall also houses Raffles Medical Centre-Holland V, a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary medical centre that offers patients a whole host of medical facilities, including family medicine, health screening, dental, traditional Chinese medicine and other specialist services.

GDAssist, Bangladesh’s largest and most prominent healthcare tourism facilitator, provides comprehensive consultation and the widest range of packages to patients travelling to Singapore for medical treatment purposes. Through a strong healthcare network in Singapore, including with Raffles Hospital, GDAssist can assist patients to avail themselves of world-class treatment options as per their budgets and affordability. Moreover, as an integrated solutions provider, the company can take patients by the hand right through the journey and provide something that transcends service.

So, call GDAssist today. You could be on your way to Singapore for a world-class medical experience in the next few days.

Hotline: 16457; 01617666888. Email: gdal@green-delta.com

Website:  gdassist.com