Healthcare in Singapore is mainly under the responsibility of the Singapore Government's Ministry of Health. Singapore generally has an efficient and widespread system of healthcare. Singapore was ranked 6th in the World Health Organisation's ranking of the world's health systems in the year 2000.^[1] Bloomberg ranked Singapore’s healthcare system the 1st most efficient in the world in 2014.

Singapore has "one of the most successful healthcare systems in the world, in terms of both efficiency in financing and the results achieved in community health outcomes," according to an analysis by global consulting firm Towers Watson.^[8] The government regularly adjusts policies to actively regulate "the supply and prices of healthcare services in the country" in an attempt to keep costs in check. However, for the most part the government does not directly regulate the costs of private medical care. These costs are largely subject to market forces, and vary enormously within the private sector, depending on the medical specialty and service provided.

The specific features of the Singapore healthcare system are unique, and have been described as a "very difficult system to replicate in many other countries." Many Singaporeans also have supplemental private health insurance (often provided by employers) for services not covered by the government's programmes.^[8]

Patients are free to choose the providers within the government or private healthcare delivery system and can walk in for a consultation at any private clinic or any government polyclinic. For emergency services, patients can go at any time to the 24-hour Accident & Emergency Departments located in the government hospitals.

The Agency for Integrated Care was established in 2009 to improve services in the community and in nursing homes. Regional health systems have been established to link hospitals with rehabilitation centres and primary care. Many of its initiatives have been supported through Temasek Cares.

The National Electronic Record Programme was launched in 2011 and is used by more than 280 institutions to support telehealth and telemedicine. ^[9]

Singapore's medical facilities are among the finest in the world. As of 2012, Singapore had a total of 10,225 doctors in its healthcare delivery system. This gives a doctor to population ratio of 1:520. The nurse (including midwives) to population ratio is 1:150, with a total of 34,507 nurses. There are 1,645 dentists, giving a ratio of 1 dentist to 3,230 people.

In 2012, there were a total of 10,756 hospital beds in the 25 hospitals and specialty centres in Singapore. The 8 public hospitals comprise 6 acute general hospitals (SGH, NUH, CGH, TTSH, KTPH & AH), a women's and children's hospital (KKH) and a psychiatry hospital (IMH).^[6]

The Singapore General Hospital is the largest and oldest hospital in Singapore, of which the foundation of its first building was laid in 1821.

The Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the second largest hospital in Singapore after the Singapore General Hospital, but its accident and emergency department is the busiest in the country largely due to its geographically centralised location. Set up in 1844 by an entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tan Tock Seng, the hospital came into the international spotlight when it was designated as the sole treatment centre for the SARS epidemic which struck the country in 2003.