MOH probes emergency response lapse after senior faced faulty call button in assisted living flat
An ambulance was only called to Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok over two hours after the fall.
The Health Ministry in Singapore is investigating a lapse in emergency response following a 85-year-old woman's fall at Harmony Village @ Bukit Batok, the country's first public assisted living facility. On September 2, the woman suffered a hip injury after falling in the shower at her flat. Despite pressing the emergency call button, help did not arrive for two hours, until her neighbor heard her cries for assistance.
In a written response on October 6, Health Minister Ong Ye Kung expressed sympathy for the resident's distress, stating that such an incident should not have occurred. Ong also acknowledged the need for improvement in the service standards governing 24-hour emergency responses in community care apartments, which are not subject to the Healthcare Services Act.
The Ministry directed Vanguard Healthcare, which operates the facility, to conduct a formal root cause analysis and engage an independent consultant to review the incident and emergency response arrangements. Vanguard Healthcare has since completed checks on emergency call buttons and reinforced response procedures with its staff.
The woman's daughter, Mary Aw, said her mother, Soh Hock Lye, had recently undergone hip surgery and was still hospitalized following the incident.
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