Focus Groups Map Community Care Pathways to Ease Singapore’s Emergency Department Strain

Singapore’s aging population and growing chronic disease burden are intensifying pressure on emergency departments, exposing fragmented care and a shortage of community-based alternatives. A new descriptive qualitative study published in BMC Health Services Research set out to support the redesign of prehospital emergency care by engaging the stakeholders who run and staff the system, mapping alternative care service pathways and identifying where the current model falls short.

The research team used a series of focus group discussions with prehospital emergency care stakeholders, including emergency consultants, paramedics and administrative leaders from various government organizations involved in prehospital care. Twenty-two participants took part. Data were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis, allowing themes to emerge from the discussions rather than testing predetermined categories. The study had three stated objectives: to validate earlier findings, to identify service gaps across distinct patient segments, and to prioritize and refine prehospital care strategies.

The findings were organized around four main themes. The first involved validating barriers and mapping services and needs in community care. The second concerned aligning interventions to patient needs, reflecting the study’s focus on matching different patient segments to appropriate alternatives rather than a one-size-fits-all solution. The third covered refining and prioritizing interventions and identifying key partners for them, and the fourth identified system-level and data implementation enablers for prehospital emergency care interventions.

Among the key findings, the participants highlighted the significance of a Health Navigator Portal to optimize patient flow, strengthening system integration to facilitate information flow across regional clusters, and enhancing the affordability and capabilities of community-anchored services. These points point to both digital tools and organizational coordination as central to moving appropriate patients away from emergency departments and toward community-based care.

The authors conclude that the study offers insights and suggestions on the challenges and strategies facing Singapore’s prehospital emergency care landscape, highlighting priorities for implementation strategies, the roles of key stakeholders, and critical enablers for policy redesign. They position the findings as a foundation for developing more efficient, integrated, community-anchored solutions and for co-developing future prehospital care models described as responsive, scalable and contextually relevant. As a qualitative focus group study of 22 stakeholders, the work reports stakeholder perspectives and priorities rather than measured clinical or system outcomes, and any redesigned pathways would still require implementation and evaluation. The article was published open access on 23 October 2026 as an accepted, peer-reviewed manuscript subject to further editorial edits before the final version of record.

Subject of Research: Stakeholder focus group study mapping alternative prehospital care pathways to support emergency care redesign in Singapore

Article Title: Stakeholder-informed mapping of alternative care service pathways for prehospital care redesign in Singapore: a descriptive qualitative focus group study

Article References: Chua, C., Chuah, J., Lim, J. D., Ng, C. N., & Lai, Y. F. (2026). Stakeholder-informed mapping of alternative care service pathways for prehospital care redesign in Singapore: a descriptive qualitative focus group study. BMC Health Services Research. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-026-15614-8

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1186/s12913-026-15614-8

Keywords: prehospital emergency care, Singapore, focus groups, qualitative research, emergency departments, community care, health navigation, care integration, health services research, stakeholders, Stakeholder-informed, mapping