Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health, at the ILTC Manpower Development Awards Ceremony, 27 August 2015

Dr Jennifer Lee, AIC Chairman,

Dr Wong Kirk Chuan, AIC Deputy CEO,                                    

Distinguished guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

            Good morning. It gives me great pleasure to join you here for the third Intermediate and Long-Term Care (ILTC) Manpower Development Awards Ceremony organised by the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC).

Developing A Future Ready Community Care Sector

2.         In 2012, the Health Minister announced the Healthcare 2020 Masterplan to enhance our healthcare system to cater for future needs and challenges through enhancing the accessibility, affordability and quality of healthcare.  We have been building up capacity in the Community Care sector over the past few years. We are on track to achieve 17,000 nursing home beds, 10,000 home care places, 6,200 day care places and 6,000 palliative home care places by 2020.

3.         In parallel, we are taking steps to enhance the quality of home care and centre-based care services.  Earlier this year, we introduced the Home care and Centre-based Care Guidelines which serve as a reference for providers to work towards delivering quality care for our seniors. To provide further assistance, AIC has worked with industry-led Workgroups to produce an Implementation Guide for each set of Guidelines. The Implementation Guides complement the Guidelines by elaborating the rationale behind the guidelines, illustrating operational processes, highlighting good practices and providing resources such as clinical tools, checklists and references. 

4.         Today, I am pleased to launch the two sets of Implementation Guides.  They will be distributed to service providers by November 2015.  I am encouraged to hear that many providers are looking forward to these guides so that they can start incorporating the Guidelines into their operations. Providers can also get further support through the training programmes and capability-building initiatives that AIC is putting in place.

Government’s Support in Resourcing the Sector

5.         The development plans for the community care sector can only succeed if we are able to recruit more staff and enhance the quality of care staff to provide higher standards of care. 

6.         With the growth in the community care services sector, we need close to 11,000 more staff in 2020 as compared to 2012 across all levels to augment the existing manpower pool. Community care is a source of good jobs for Singaporeans. AIC has been working actively with Community Care providers to reach out to residents living around them, including back-to-work mothers and retirees, to offer jobs within the community through regional job fairs.  I am heartened  to note that the most recent “Senior Care Job Fair @ South West” at Hong Kah North Community Centre took place in end July and attracted more than 900 job applications.   I hope that more will be attracted to this “sunrise” sector with many meaningful jobs.

7.         Not only are we bringing the jobs to the community, we have also made the job-seeking process easier and more attractive to job-seekers.  The initiatives we have launched include a new Traineeship programme for new Senior Care Associates, Healthcare Assistants and Therapy Aides so that jobseekers can get the requisite training to embark on a career in community care.  There is also the Community Care Discovery Programme (CCDP) for potential job-seekers to understand more about the sector as well as the Welcome-to-Community Care (WTCC) and Bring- Forward-a-Friend bonuses for new joinees and friends who referred them.  Do look out for the next regional job fair at Kovan Hub on 18 and 19 September. 

Commitment to Developing the Sector’s Workforce

8.         Besides facilitating recruitment for the Community Care sector, we will also need to continue supporting providers in providing training opportunities for their staff to grow their skills and knowledge.  This year, we will be giving out a total of 91 awards which is an increase from last year.  The awards are under five categories: the Social & Healthcare Manpower Development Programme for the Intermediate and Long-Term Care (SHMDP-ILTC), ILTC-Upgrading Programme (ILTC-UP), Mid-Term Scholarships for Social Workers, ILTC – Palliative Care Training Award and the Balaji Sadasvian Study Award.  The increase in the number of awardees is encouraging, and is testimony to the sector’s strong commitment to continuously grow the capability of its workforce, so that we can provide better care to our seniors.

9.         Besides healthcare professionals such as nurses and therapists, we also need to build a strong core of administrators in the Community Care sector.  Administrators who look after human resource, finance and service delivery functions are essential partners in ensuring that the organisation can run smoothly.   Today, administrative staff can apply for the SHMDP-ILTC to further their studies. One example is Ms Brenda Loh, who joined St Luke's Hospital as a care coordinator in 2013.  Brenda’s work involves home visits to elderly patients with multiple needs to ensure that they are coping well after discharge from the community hospital.  To be more equipped to manage the complex needs of the elderly and support their caregivers, Brenda will be taking up the Masters in Gerontology course in SIM University, and she hopes to look into enhancing palliative home care upon graduation.   We strongly encourage more administrators to upskill themselves and take advantage of the training support available.

New Community Care – GP Partnership Training Award

10.       In addition to growing the capability of the current Community Care workforce, we need to also develop and attract professionals with the right expertise into the sector.  Last year, AIC and MOH launched the ILTC – Palliative Care Training Award to support General Practitioners (GPs) to take up the Graduate Diploma in Palliative Care.  Together with Community Care providers as our partners, we co-sponsor GPs to pursue further training in palliative care. In return, the GPs support the Community Care providers in caring for patients.

11.       A total of eight GPs are among the first to receive this award today. 55-year old Dr Melvin Goh, a GP with Mel & Partners, who is co-sponsored by the Singapore Cancer Society, took up general practice as he was not comfortable dealing with death or breaking bad news to his patients. This changed after his wife passed away from cancer in 2011. She was cared for by a palliative doctor in her last days, and Dr Goh was inspired by the holistic care provided to his wife that he subsequently took up palliative care courses after his wife’s passing.  Dr Goh has obtained his Graduate Diploma in Palliative Medicine and will be able to use his knowledge and skills to benefit his patients with the Singapore Cancer Society.

12.       The ILTC – Palliative Care Training Award has provided useful support to GPs who wish to contribute in the broader Community Care sector to do so. I am pleased to announce that we will be extending this award to cover the Graduate Diploma in Geriatric Medicine (GDGM) and Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine (GDFM) programmes from later this year.  This will provide sponsorship opportunities for more GPs to upskill and care for patients in the community.  To better reflect our intent to strengthen the partnership between GPs in the primary care sector and the Community Care sector, the PCTA will be renamed the “Community Care – GP Partnership Training Award”.  MOH will continue to co-fund 70% of the course fees.

Closing

13.       In closing, I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to all the award recipients.  I wish you all the best in your learning journey, and I look forward to your contributions in improving the quality of care in the Community Care sector.