it is probably difficult to mimic a GP centric medical environment like Australia in Singapore, as specialists are definitely more accessible in comparison. The current climate of practice in Singapore also seem to encourage defensive medicine, with primary care physicians clogging up the emergency departments and specialist outpatient clinics with tons of referrals that may not be necessarily indicated.

It is unfair to point fingers as well, why would GPs manage or follow up these patients when they already have individual queues of 50-60 patients in the polyclinics every day. The role of the GP as the 'gate keeping physician' in the community seem to have been diluted to be more of a 'post man'- filtering undifferentiated presentations and directing them to the relevant specialties. Perhaps a better solution is to encourage the rise of middle grades such as advanced nurse practitioners/nurse clinicians that can assist in the care of stable chronic patients in the community to share a part of the load.