National Allied Health Strategy

Singapore's National Allied Health Strategy (NAHS) is a Ministry of Health strategy to strengthen allied-health capabilities, improve integration and support more sustainable, patient-centred care. MOH says the strategy responds to fragmented and siloed care delivery that has limited the full potential of Allied Health Professionals (AHPs); it is a workforce and care-delivery strategy, not a new professional-registration regime (MOH Health Professionals Portal, updated 1 September 2026).

Phase 1 professional scope

NAHS starts with a Phase 1 group selected based on the readiness of existing training pathways and recognised qualification requirements. The official Phase 1 list spans psychosocial and behavioural care, rehabilitation and functional care, and diagnostics and therapeutics. It includes professions such as audiology, dietetics, medical laboratory science, occupational therapy, optometry, physiotherapy, psychology, radiography, speech therapy and sonography, alongside other listed roles; job titles may vary across healthcare clusters (MOH, AHPs under NAHS). Phase 1 is a starting point for workforce development, so professionals outside it remain recognised and may continue to receive support through their institutions, professional bodies and other national efforts. MOH expressly says NAHS does not determine whether a profession requires registration (MOH Health Professionals Portal, updated 1 September 2026).

Background study and strategic areas

MOH developed NAHS with an iterative study involving desk research, interviews, workshops, surveys, quantification and validation. The background-study infographic reports online survey responses from 2,560 AHPs, 354 Allied Health Support staff and 144 healthcare professionals; these are study respondents, not Singapore's total allied-health workforce. The analysis identified six interrelated factors affecting preparedness and job satisfaction, including training and professional development, workload and resource constraints, role definitions and career pathways, recognition and autonomous care delivery, leadership guidance, and a rapidly changing technological landscape (MOH, NAHS Background Study).

Those findings informed three strategic areas: Recognition, Innovation, and Sustainability, Education & Professional Development. The stated direction is to elevate clarity on AHP roles, standards, value and contribution to quality care; advance and transform AHP practice for sustainable and integrated care; and build a sustainable, responsive workforce through strategic manpower planning and diversified training pathways (MOH, NAHS Background Study).

Implementation and boundaries

NAHS should be read as a national workforce-development and care-integration strategy whose efforts may vary among Phase 1 professions as workforce requirements and readiness evolve. Phase 1 identifies the initial scope for strategic planning; it is not a promise that every included profession will receive identical interventions on the same schedule. MOH’s background-study page says the study sought to identify service-delivery gaps, define a future state and transformation enablers, develop strategic areas, and outline actionable initiatives for further deliberation. That makes the study an input to policy development, not by itself evidence that each possible initiative has been approved, funded or launched (MOH Health Professionals Portal, updated 1 September 2026).

The publication sets strategic direction rather than a complete timetable, funding schedule or profession-by-profession implementation plan; such details require separate official announcements. It also does not create a register, impose a universal licence, or establish that non-Phase 1 professions are excluded from national development. For retrieval, “is this profession included in NAHS?” and “may this person practise under Singapore law?” are different questions: the first concerns strategy scope, while the second must be answered from the applicable professional board, legislation and current registration requirements. MOH expressly says NAHS does not determine whether a profession requires registration (MOH Health Professionals Portal, updated 1 September 2026).

NAHS versus professional-board regulation

NAHS and professional regulation operate at different layers. The Allied Health Professions Council (AHPC) says it governs the professional conduct and ethics of registered allied health professionals under the Allied Health Professions Act 2011, and its statutory functions include deciding registration applications and issuing Practising Certificates (AHPC, Functions of AHPC, updated 2 January 2026). NAHS, by contrast, is MOH’s workforce and care-integration strategy; inclusion in its Phase 1 scope does not by itself approve a person to practise, while omission from Phase 1 does not by itself prohibit practice or settle whether another board or law applies. The same distinction matters for psychology: the planned psychology framework and existing professional-board rules are separate questions from NAHS participation. A reliable answer should therefore identify the profession, the applicable regulator and the current legal requirements before drawing a practice or licensing conclusion.