Continuity of care essential for good health outcomes

I WOULD like to respond to the letter “Neglected aspect of care” by Abdul Rahman Abdullah that appeared in The Star on May 28 (online at bit.ly/star_care).

The narrative of neglect, or a lack of continuity of care, of patients discharged from a hospital has been a faultline in our healthcare services, be they public or private, for decades. It is indeed sad. The silver lining is that there are medical personnel in hospitals who do care about what happens to discharged patients, and in the community, there are individuals and organisations, formal or ad hoc groups, who come forward to help when they become aware of persons needing help of one kind or another. This feature of helping, akin to the good Samaritan, is a global phenomenon for which we humans must, ironically, thank the Covid-19 pandemic.