OPENING ADDRESS BY MDM RAHAYU MAHZAM MINISTER OF STATE, MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND MINISTRY OF DIGITAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFORMATION AT THE VANGUARD QUALITY FORUM 25 SEPTEMBER 2026

Ms Chan Wei Ling, Chief Executive Officer, Vanguard Healthcare
Distinguished Speakers and Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen

1. Good morning. I am delighted to join you today at the Vanguard Quality Forum 2026.

2. Let me begin by thanking all of you for the important work that you do in community care. Every day, across different care settings, you support seniors and their families through different stages of their ageing journey.

3. You provide care, reassurance and dignity to those who depend on you. For many seniors and their families, what leaves a lasting impression is not only the service they receive, but the people who walk alongside them in their care journey.

4. This work is meaningful. But we also know that it is becoming more demanding. Singapore’s population is ageing rapidly. More seniors are living with complex care needs, including dementia, frailty and mental health conditions. Families and caregivers also need more support as they care for their loved ones.

5. Against this backdrop, the community care sector will need to continue strengthening care in the community, building capabilities, and supporting the workforce who make this care possible.

SPARK: Catalysing Innovation, Transforming Quality, Empowering Care

6. This is why the theme of the Vanguard Quality Forum, “SPARK: Catalysing Innovation, Transforming Quality, Empowering Care”, is both apt and timely.

7. It builds on last year’s theme, “Think Differently: Break the Norm, Shape the Future”. Last year’s theme encouraged us to challenge old ways of doing things. This year’s theme takes us one step further: a call to action. It asks how we can turn new ideas into practical improvements that make a difference to residents, families and staff.

8. Today, I would like to highlight three aspects of this theme: first, how innovation can help us respond to changing care needs; second, how quality must be supported by a culture of learning; and third, how we must care for our healthcare workers, so that they can continue caring for others.

Catalysing Innovation

9. Innovative technologies play a key role in supporting healthcare and community care transformation. But innovation is not only about technology. Innovation extends to how we design and redesign care processes, improve coordination, strengthen clinical governance, and equip our workforce with new skills and capabilities.

10. For Vanguard, this journey is closely linked to its role in the long-term care sector. Over the years, Vanguard has invested in digital transformation, clinical governance, training, workforce development and new approaches to care delivery. These efforts include the use of technology-enabled solutions such as AI-assisted wound management, digital care systems, and data-driven quality monitoring to support safer, more efficient and person-centred care.

11. One example is an AI-assisted wound management through the Care4Wound (C4W) app. In the past, nurses measured wounds by hand —using rulers and even their fingers to measure wound length and depth, and provided manual updates to doctors and wound care specialists before treatment decisions could be made. Now, with the app, nurses simply take a photo of the wound. The app automatically measures the wound, tracks healing progress, and even suggests a treatment plan. This close and regular monitoring of wound assessment and management supported faster healing and better outcomes for the residents.

12. Vanguard used to rely on whiteboards to manually track daily resident activities around the ward. Now, Vanguard’s staff use the Smart Ward Dashboard, a real-time digital platform that gives them a clear view of what’s happening in the ward. It helps the team identify potential concerns - like a fever outbreak - and improves communication and coordination. This translates to better prioritisation, fewer errors, and more responsive care for our residents.

13. Innovation succeeds when it improves outcomes for residents while also enabling staff to work more effectively and confidently. As care needs become increasingly complex, the ability to develop capabilities, redesign workflows, and harness technology well and safely will remain critical to the future of community care.

Transforming Quality

14. When we speak about quality in care, it is not just about complying with quality standards. It also calls for a shift in mindset: away from asking who is to blame when something goes wrong, and towards asking what we can learn and how we can improve. Each of us has a part to play. Individuals must take responsibility for their actions, while organisations must create the right systems and conditions for safe, high-quality care. Most importantly, learning and improvement must become a part of how we work.

15. A ‘Just Culture’ is a key enabler of this patient safety transformation. It encourages staff to speak up, report concerns, and learn from incidents openly, without fear of unfair or inappropriate punitive actions. At the same time, it recognises the importance of accountability, while prompting organisations to look beyond individual blame and examine the systems, processes and conditions that may have contributed to an incident. Such an approach creates a stronger foundation for learning from incidents and, preventing harm from recurring.

16. Building and sustaining a ‘Just Culture’ requires commitment from everyone, from organisational leaders to frontline staff. Leaders set the tone by fostering trust and psychological safety, while staff contribute by raising concerns, sharing lessons and supporting one another in the pursuit of better care. When people feel safe and empowered to speak up, they are equipped to deliver care with better outcomes for residents and their families. For such a culture to thrive, we must prioritise providing the necessary support.

Empowering Care: CARE Recovery

17. This brings me to the third aspect of today’s theme: empowering care by supporting those who care. I am therefore pleased to join you for the launch of Vanguard’s CARE Recovery Programme.

18. Across healthcare and community care, much attention is rightly focused on seniors and their families. They must always remain at the centre of what we do. At the same time, we must recognise that delivering compassionate care can sometimes be emotionally demanding for healthcare workers.

19. Community care professionals regularly support seniors and families through complex and challenging situations. They may encounter difficult care incidents, emotionally charged conversations, or outcomes that are deeply distressing despite their best efforts. Such experiences can affect confidence, resilience and well-being.

20. Supporting workforce well-being is therefore not only about caring for staff; it is also essential to maintaining a safe, resilient and sustainable care system. When staff feel supported, they are better able to learn, adapt and continue providing high-quality care to those who depend on them.

21. I am pleased that Vanguard is taking an important step in this area through the launch of its CARE Recovery Programme. The acronym CARE, which stands for Caregiver, Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment, emphasises supporting caregivers through challenging incidents, fostering recovery, resilience, and psychological safety. The programme provides structured support for staff following difficult care incidents through peer support, trained support teams and access to professional resources where needed.

22. Importantly, initiatives such as these help reinforce a culture where seeking support is encouraged, learning is valued, and people feel safe to speak up. They contribute to building a stronger workforce and a stronger organisation, both of which are essential as the community care sector continues to grow and evolve. Previously staff who were involved in medication errors or fall incidents were fearful to report them. Now they are more open in reporting incidents, participate openly in incident reviews, and share lessons learned when they know they will be supported rather than blamed. This not only enhances individual recovery and resilience but also improves incident reporting, organisational learning, and resident safety outcomes.

23. I commend Vanguard for taking this important step. By formalising support for staff after difficult incidents, Vanguard is committed to staff well-being and for recognising that quality care begins with a supported and empowered team.

Building the Future of Care Together

24. Looking ahead, the future of care will continue to be shaped by many forces. Our population will continue to age. Care needs will become more complex. Families and caregivers will need more support. Our workforce will need to adapt to new models of care, new technologies and new expectations.

25. No single organisation can address these challenges alone. We will need stronger partnerships across healthcare, community care and social care. We will need to learn from one another, share good practices, and build systems that are innovative, sustainable and human-centred.

26. Forums such as this play an important role in bringing people together to reflect, exchange ideas and inspire action. They remind us that transformation is not only about plans, programmes or technology. It is also about people: the people who lead change, the people who deliver care, and the people whose lives are improved because of that care.

Closing

27. In closing, let me congratulate Vanguard on organising the Vanguard Quality Forum 2026 and on the launch of the CARE Recovery Programme.

28. The future of community care will be shaped not only by new technologies and new models of care, but also by the people who deliver the care every day. As Singapore's population ages and care needs become more complex, we must innovate boldly, pursue excellence in quality, and invest in the well-being, development and resilience of our workforce.

29. I hope today’s discussions will spark fresh thinking, deepen collaboration and if done so together, we will build a community care sector that is not only capable and sustainable, but also compassionate, trusted and ready for the future.

30. I wish everyone a fruitful and inspiring forum.

31. Thank you.