Speech by Mr Edwin Tong, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Law & Ministry of Health, at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) Nurses’ Day 2019, 2 August 2019

Professor Chua Hong Choon, Chief Executive Officer, IMH

Associate Professor Daniel Fung, Chairman, Medical Board, IMH

Ms Samantha Ong, Chief Nurse, IMH

Nurses

Distinguished Guests

Ladies and Gentlemen

1. This is the day chosen in the year to celebrate, commemorate, honour and show appreciation to our nurses. It should not just be one day. It should be every day – every day as you make your ward rounds, every day as you see your patients. 

2. To all the nurses out there, do not ever let anyone underestimate the value of your work. You are the frontline, you see the patients day in, day out, and you see the patients at their worst moments. Sometimes you have to look after not just the patients, but also their families. You are a very special and treasured part of the healthcare professional.    

CHANGING MODEL OF CARE

3. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has taken steps to transform the paradigm of care. I am sure you are now familiar with our three ‘Beyonds’: Beyond Healthcare to Health, Beyond Hospital to Community and Beyond Quality to Value.

4. Our healthcare professionals, especially our nurses, play a pivotal role in this transformation. We have to transform, we have to change the paradigm, and we have to make ourselves future-ready. Our population is very quickly ageing. We are facing a challenge in terms of looking after a population that is today, about 420,000 Singaporeans aged 65 and above. In about 11 to 12 years’ time, that figure will more than double to about 900,000. With it will comes challenges, not just from the healthcare perspective, but also from the whole-of-society and economic perspectives. 

5. Families are getting smaller. We have fewer caregivers within the family for the elderly, the sick and the infant. We have a sharply ageing population, a workforce that is slowly reducing and so we have challenges. The challenges are not just for us, but for our next generation – for our children will enjoy Singapore for, and what their children will enjoy Singapore for. We cannot leave them in a state where they have to bear the burdens – the care and healthcare burdens, as well as the financial cost burden of an ageing population. 

6. Many of the things that we do today will seem tough when we try and look at quality, value and what it means to step down our care, such as how we build up our community networks and primary care networks. It is transformative in many ways, but also necessary given the profile of our population and where our healthcare needs will take us. 

RECOVERY-ORIENTED PRACTICES

7. To help patients stay well and thrive in the community, IMH has renewed its focus on patient rehabilitation and recovery-orientated practices. At IMH’s Recovery Centre pilot, nurses work with a multi-disciplinary team – a whole team effort is what is needed, not just isolated individuals or isolated professionals. Team effort is needed to ensure that the rehabilitation needs of more patients are looked after. This new model of recovery care is a shift away from the old approach to mental health treatment where patients used to be passive recipients of care. As a result, more patients are empowered and in greater charge of their health outcomes.

8. Another example is Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) Saralla D/O Arunasalam who runs an APN-Led Continuity Clinic where she empowers her patients to actively participate in their treatment and medication management, improve their functioning in the community while encouraging caregivers to support their loved ones effectively. Earlier this year, we announced a series of initiatives to kick-start caregiving programmes to ensure that caregivers are also recognised for the role that they play.

9. While under the Transitional Care Programme, APN Saralla has made home visits to ensure the safety of her patients, and helped them and their caregivers with any emotional and psychological problems they faced in the care journey. Through her efforts, Saralla goes beyond looking after patients’ basic needs, and involves her patients and their families interactively and collaboratively in decision making and care. I think that is the model of what it means to look after a patient in the community, with the community, and with the support of their loved ones and caregivers.

DEVELOPING NURSES AS LEADERS

10. Indeed, the role of the nurse is very different today. You have the power to inspire, influence and share with others with your knowledge, skills and transformative healing power in the care that you bring to patients. I used to do a lot of work as a lawyer, when patients complained, such as in civil claims. I always made it a point to talk to the nurses, as the nurses, in the course of dealing with the patient, would have first-hand and probably the best sense of the patient and of what actually happened. It is a role I have appreciated for a long time now. When you are in the heat of the moment, it is the nurses who are actually the frontlines, dealing with the patients and families day to day.

11. To help develop nurse leaders, MOH and the Healthcare Leadership College have developed the Singapore Nurse Leaders Programme (SNLP) to groom mid-level nurses’ leadership skills and give them a better understanding of the community care sector. With this, these nurses can take on broader leadership roles and lead care across acute and community care sectors. 

12. Nurse Manager Yuan Peng is one of the four IMH nurse leaders who have graduated from the pioneer batch of the SNLP earlier this year. The SNLP helps equip nurse leaders like Yuan Peng with a better understanding of the care models, roles and scope of nursing practices within different community care settings. I am happy to learn that Yuan Peng gained a lot of insight after his attachments to St Theresa’s Home, Yishun Community Hospital and Ang Mo Kio Family Service Centre. Together, this gives Yuan Peng a well-rounded appreciation of the care sectors in the community and the different needs of patients in different settings. He is keen to share his new-found knowledge with his colleagues to better the care for IMH patients and prepare them to return to the community.

13. On that note, I must say that while nursing is a challenge, I would also say that nursing at IMH can be particularly difficult. As Prof Chua earlier mentioned, these are patients who did not choose to come, and many of them, not withstanding that they did not want to come, benefitted from their stay here. Mental health and mental well-being still remain largely underdiagnosed in many aspects. More can be and will be done to enhance the sector. 

CLOSING

14. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate IMH’s nurses who received the Nurses’ Merit Award from Minister two weeks ago: Senior Nurse Educator Dr Xie Huiting, Advanced Practice Nurse Saralla D/O Arunasalam, Nurse Manager Yuan Peng, Senior Staff Nurse Win Min Htet and Senior Assistant Nurse Sim Thiam Hee.
 
15. All of you deserve the awards, but I am sure many of the others, without the awards, are equally good and equally dedicated. That is the hallmark of the nursing profession. 

16. Finally, I want to say congratulations to IMH’s Chief Nurse Samantha Ong. I met her last week at the Istana, where she was privileged to receive the Award from the President. You are an inspiration and a beacon of light to many nurses. You blaze a trail that I know many will follow. Many look up to Samantha, and will apply your best, award or not. I know many of you will continue to work hard, with dedication and compassion, and it is not about the award. It is not about winning the prizes, although prizes do signify a level of recognition. I am very happy for Samantha. Congratulations, Samantha. 

17. I wish you all a very Happy Nurses’ Day. I encourage you to continue in your chosen profession, to do the best you can, because many patients and their families count and rely a lot on each of you. Thank you.