Why are certain registered healthcare professionals allowed to practise within the same premises as licensed service providers? Will the licensed service provider be liable for any adverse event caused by these healthcare professionals?
The intent for disallowing co-location of unlicensed services is:
to prevent unlicensed services from being perceived by the public as “MOH-licensed healthcare services”;
to prevent the public from being ‘less vigilant’ as they mistakenly believe they are consuming a regulated service;
to prevent licensees from “cross-selling” the services of the unlicensed entity thereby inducing unnecessary consumption by patients (e.g., clinic referring patients to the beauty clinic run by spouse).
We have made an exception for certain registered healthcare professionals to co-locate with licensees, and this will be complementary for patients registered with the hospital/clinic e.g., physiotherapist co-located with an orthopaedic clinic or a speech therapist co-located with a neurology clinic. This is already the case in hospital services today.
The provision of the licensee’s licensable healthcare service is not adversely affected, and the privacy and safety of the licensee’s patients is not compromised, by the provision of any specified healthcare service or colocated service.
Related questions
Do I need to physically separate co-located non-licensable services from my licensed healthcare service?
Is sharing the same building, but operating in separate units from external vendors considered co-location? Would sharing the premises with another licensee be considered co-location?
If MOH gives approval for a licensee (e.g., outpatient medical clinic) who applies to provide a non-healthcare-related service (e.g., café) within the same premises, will there be safeguards to ensure patients are not misled?
For licensees who have been given approval to co-locate with a non-licensee, can information regarding these services appear in the same advertisement or webpage?
