NOTICE PAPER NO. 1636
NOTICE OF QUESTION FOR WRITTEN ANSWER
FOR THE SITTING OF PARLIAMENT ON 9 JANUARY 2023
Name and Constituency of Member of Parliament
Mr Gan Thiam Poh
MP for Ang Mo Kio GRC
Question No. 2504
To ask the Minister for Health what further immediate measures will the Ministry consider and take when the mortuaries in Singapore be unable to cope with a surge in demand.
Answer
The mortuaries managed by hospitals and the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) are only meant to temporarily store deceased persons before they are claimed. There are existing processes to facilitate the timely transfer of the deceased to families for funeral preparations. In the past decade, mortuaries were able to meet the actual demand for mortuary space.
Nevertheless, the hospitals and HSA had also established contingency plans to cater to potential surge in the demand for mortuary space. This involves the deployment of mobile refrigerated containers near the existing mortuaries to add capacity.