SINGAPORE: The Ministry of Health (MOH) is probing whether the founder and CEO of LC Nursing Home in Siglap failed to disclose disciplinary actions taken against him by healthcare regulatory authorities during the nursing home’s licence application.
MOH announced in late June that it would revoke the licence of the nursing home, which operates a 93-bed facility at Jalan Ulu Siglap, after finding “serious and systemic” lapses in care and safety. The revocation will take effect on Nov 23.
Responding to CNA’s queries on Wednesday (Jul 8), the ministry noted that LC Nursing Home founder and CEO Chia Yang Pong was found guilty of professional misconduct by a Singapore Medical Council disciplinary committee and struck off the Register of Medical Practitioners in 2004.
“MOH is investigating whether Mr Chia had failed to disclose to MOH at the time of the licensing application of LC Nursing Home, information concerning the disciplinary actions taken by healthcare regulatory authorities against him,” it said.
The ministry added that it was “unable to comment further at this stage in the light of the ongoing investigations”.
According to a 2004 High Court judgment, Mr Chia was the sole licensee of Grace Polyclinic, a chain of seven medical clinics, when MOH inspections in 2002 found that “quite a number of” its patients had been improperly prescribed benzodiazepines without proper medical records documenting their symptoms and condition. Benzodiazepines are usually used to control seizures and anxiety, as well as other conditions related to the nervous system.
The disciplinary committee convicted him of 80 charges of professional misconduct over this.
In addition to having his name removed from the Register of Medical Practitioners, he was fined S$65,000 (US$50,237), censured and ordered to pay the costs of the disciplinary proceedings against him.
His appeal against his removal from the Register of Medical Practitioners was dismissed, although the court reduced his fine from S$65,000 to S$10,000.
MOH noted that under the Healthcare Services Act 2020, Mr Chia is deemed a key appointment holder at LC Nursing Home. That role does not require medical expertise or technical oversight as a medical practitioner under the Act, according to the ministry.
Speaking in parliament on Tuesday, Senior Minister of State for Health Tan Kiat How said that MOH conducts regular and periodic audits, as well as special reviews and inspections on nursing homes.
He noted that the great majority of nursing homes placed on closer monitoring take adequate corrective actions and sustain their improvements.
But if the lapses are serious, repeated and there is a lack of meaningful effort to rectify them, MOH will have to escalate its enforcement measures, Mr Tan said, citing the cases of LC Nursing Home and Windsor Convalescent Home.
The ministry issued a notice on Jun 18 to revoke Windsor Convalescent Home’s licence to provide nursing home services, the first of two such revocations announced last month due to “serious and systemic” lapses at the 45-bed nursing home at 369 Pasir Panjang Road.
Windsor Convalescent Home’s licence will be revoked from Oct 30.
Mr Tan also said that MOH and the Agency for Integrated Care will be sharing the findings of their recent audits and manpower training and grant support available in the nursing home sector.