Polyclinic
A polyclinic (where poly means "many"; not to be confused with the homonym policlinic, where poli means "city" and which is sometimes used for a hospital's outpatient department) is a clinic or health care facility that provides both general and specialist examinations and treatments for a wide variety of diseases and injuries to outpatients and is usually independent of a hospital.[1][2][3] When a polyclinic is so large that it is in fact a hospital, it is also called a general hospital.[4]
Usage
Aside from English English and Singapore English, the term was rare in other English-speaking countries until recently and is still very rare in Northern America. Examples of its use are the large outpatient clinics (healthcare centers) operated by the government in England and Singapore that are able to provide a wider range of services than a standard doctor's (GP) office as well as The Polyclinic in Seattle, Washington.
In Singapore, polyclinics refers to healthcare centres funded by the government that provide primary care such as medical treatment, preventive healthcare, and health education.[5] As of 2022, they are 23 polyclinics throughout the country, and it is expected to reach 32 by 2030. Patients who attend polyclinics are referred to hospitals if they need more specialised treatment, or be warded if needed.[6][7]
Most other languages use a cognate of the even rarer English term "policlinic" (spelled similarly to and pronounced the same as the English term "polyclinic") for outpatient departments (outpatient clinics) of (public) hospitals and for large independent (public) clinics for outpatients. Some languages, for example French, specifically use a cognate of "polyclinic" to refer to private outpatient clinics.[8]
Due to the different meanings of "poly" and "poli", it was traditionally considered incorrect to use the English term "polyclinic" for European policlinics. In addition, European policlinics (called "poliklinik", "policlinique", "поликлиника" [poliklinika], or similarly in other languages) are more like hospitals or are part of a hospital and are public and therefore free or inexpensive whereas polyclinics are traditionally much less structured and comprehensive organizations consisting of a usually haphazard collection of more or less independent offices of private doctors. The polyclinics in England however use the term polyclinic more or less like the term policlinic and its cognates in other languages.
See also
- Outpatient department of a hospital (rarely called policlinic in American English, and only when referring to European hospital outpatient departments)
- All pages with titles containing Polyclinic
- All pages with titles containing Outpatient
References
- ^ Company, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. "The American Heritage Dictionary entry: polyclinic". www.ahdictionary.com.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ "Definition of POLYCLINIC". www.merriam-webster.com.
- ^ "polyclinic - Definition of polyclinic in English by Oxford Dictionaries". Oxford Dictionaries - English.
- ^ "polyclinic". Collins English Dictionary. HarperCollins.
- ^ "MOH | Primary Healthcare Services". www.moh.gov.sg. Ministry of Health, Singapore. 9 May 2022. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ Raguraman, Anjali (2 October 2021). "New polyclinics open in Bukit Panjang and Kallang; Eunos polyclinic to open in December". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ Goh, Timothy (9 March 2022). "Budget debate: New polyclinic to open in Taman Jurong by 2028". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 9 May 2022.
- ^ "Définitions : Polyclinique - Dictionnaire de français Larousse".
