Healthcare System Impact
SARS reduced levels of service and care in Singapore’s healthcare system as the
system mobilized its medical resources to deal with the SARS epidemic. The influx
of influenza patients to hospitals and clinics crowded out many other patients with
less urgent medical problems for treatment. This particularly affected those seeking
elective operations that had to be postponed until the epidemic ended in Singapore.
SARS also severely impacted Singapore’s healthcare manpower. During the peak of
SARS from mid-March 2003 to early April 2003, there was a shortage of medical
and nursing professionals because 1) the demand for care of influenza patients
substantially increased, and 2) the supply of healthcare manpower decreased as
somewere also affected by the epidemic. Like other business sectors, hospitals,
clinics and other public health providers also faced a high staff-absenteeism rate and
encountered difficulties in maintaining normal operations. This resulted in a further
reduction in the level of service capacity.
Psychosocial Impact