Speech by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Health, at the Singapore Hospice Council "Live Well. Leave Well." Community Engagement Event, 9 Jun 2018

Dr Angel Lee, Chairman, Singapore Hospice Council

Ms Yeo Tan Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Hospice Council

Mr Lee Yi Shyan, Advisor, East Coast GRC

Members of the Singapore Hospice Council

Ladies and gentlemen

A very good morning to all. I am pleased to join you today at the launch of the Singapore Hospice Council’s ‘Live Well. Leave Well.’ campaign.

Palliative Care Plan

2.            The Singapore Hospice Council (SHC) has been doing good work to develop the palliative care landscape in Singapore. This work will become increasingly important as the demand for end-of-life and palliative care increase due to our ageing population. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be aged 65 and above. To help meet these growing needs, the Ministry of Health (MOH) is developing the palliative care sector along four key thrusts.

3.            First, we are increasing capacity for palliative care services. We are working towards increasing nation-wide inpatient palliative bed capacity to about 360 beds by 2020, up from the current 254. Just a few months ago, I was at the opening ceremony of St Joseph’s Home, where 20 hospice beds were officially opened. This brings the total number of inpatient palliative beds to 254 today. We are also expanding home palliative care, which currently serves about 5,900 patients per year.

4.            Second, we are enhancing the quality of palliative care services. SHC, together with the palliative care fraternity, has been a key partner in developing the National Guidelines for Palliative Care. The guidelines articulate a vision for high-quality palliative care and help providers identify potential areas for improvement to raise the quality of their services. Last year, we worked with SHC to launch a Quality Improvement Programme to address existing service gaps and upskill providers to meet the national guidelines.  

5.            Third, we are improving affordability of palliative care services. Over the past few years, we have increased subsidies and Medisave withdrawal limits for inpatient hospice and home palliative care, and extended subsidies and Medisave coverage to day hospice and paediatric home palliative care. This year, we announced at the COS debate that we are extending subsidies under the Seniors’ Mobility and Enabling Fund (SMF) to eligible home palliative care patients for consumables.

6.            Fourth, we are promoting public awareness of palliative care and end-of-life issues. Talking about end-of-life care and dying may be a difficult subject to broach with our loved ones and many Singaporeans as a cultural taboo. Today’s event is part of SHC’s three-year Community Engagement Programme. It is an important effort to help Singaporeans become more comfortable in talking about end-of-life decisions and to raise awareness of palliative care.  

Launch of the Community Engagement Kit

7.            To facilitate such conversations, SHC has developed a resource kit to equip community workers to talk to their clients about their preferences for care and what “leaving well” means, in a meaningful, yet sensitive manner. The tools in the kit include brochures on palliative care and Advance Care Planning (ACP) in four languages, a set of conversation cards and a personal journal workbook. These cards are very useful, easy and thought provoking – also applicable to myself! These resources will be distributed to community workers and also made available online on SHC’s website.

8.            As part of their overall community engagement efforts, SHC will work with its member organisations and other community partners, such as Voluntary Welfare Organisations and Family Service Centres to train service staff in the use of the kit. Through this effort, SHC hopes to generate more community conversations and reach 6,000 seniors in the next three years.

9.            Conversations on what is important should not be left to the eleventh hour. It is good to plan ahead, talk about what is important to us, do the things that are meaningful and build relationships with community support. I encourage more Voluntary Welfare Organisations and Family Service Centres to do the same, to receive training and help promote these early conversations in the community.

Live Well as We Prepare to Leave Well

10.         As part of SHC’s community engagement effort, they have also launched this year’s “Live Well, Leave Well” campaign. Singaporeans are now living longer and healthier. While we strive to live well, we sometimes neglect the important conversations on leaving and dying. It is never too early to start thinking and talking about what is important for us in order to leave well. Shortly, I will be launching a television commercial by SHC, entitled “Because I Love You.” I wish to encourage all Singaporeans to start having conversations with your loved ones on your end-of-life care.  It will give our family and loved ones peace of mind, reduce their stress, as they will know what our preferences are and be able to honour them – this itself is an act of love.

11.         In closing, I would like to thank the Singapore Hospice Council for organising this ‘Live Well, Leave Well’ campaign at Bedok. I hope you will enjoy the activities at the various booths and the programmes that have been prepared for you.

12.       Let me now say a few words in Mandarin.

13.       大家早上好！我很高兴参加新加坡慈怀理事会 “活得精彩，走得自在”的户外活动。这句口号对我来说非常有意义。

14.       新加坡人的寿命增长，大家也活的更健康。我们常常谈到如何活得更精彩，但我们也不能忽略另一个重要的话题 – 那就是如何走得自在。

15.       生老病死是人生必经之路。我们的社会比较忌讳谈论这个话题。但是，在我们策划我们的未来的当儿，我们也应该开始思考和谈论这个话题。

16.       随着人口老化的趋势，卫生部也积极提高慈怀护理素质以及增加设施与援助，为应付国人对这方面的需求。例如，在住院慈怀护理方面，我们预计在2020年或之前将床位从今天的254张提高到360张。

17.       在居家慈怀护理和住院慈怀护理这两方面， 政府也增加了津贴，同时提高保健储蓄的提款限额。从2016与2017年起，国人也可以用保健储蓄来支付日间慈怀护理和儿科居家慈怀护理。

18.       在确保服务素质更完善的当儿，卫生部也与新加坡慈怀理事会合作推行三年的公共教育运动， 提高国人对晚期照料的意识。

19.       我鼓励大家尽早与亲人谈论晚期所需的照料。现在让亲人了解我们晚期照料的意愿，将能让他们在未来能更放心地为我们做出如愿的选择。这对亲人而言，也是一个爱的表现。谢谢。