Speech by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Health, at Singapore Health Quality Service Awards 2018, 30 January 2018

Colleagues and Partners,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Introduction

      Good afternoon to all of you. It gives me great pleasure to be here today at the Singapore Health Quality Service Awards 2018 to recognise the exemplary efforts of our healthcare workers.

2.    On behalf of patients and their families, I would like to first thank all of you for your dedication in providing high quality care and services, and for going the extra mile to improve the lives of those in your care.

3.    This signature event, now in its eighth year, has achieved a new record of 30 participating institutions and more than 3,582 deserving winners from both the acute and community care sectors. This reflects our commitment to serve our people well.

Providing people-centred care in all that we do

4.    Quality healthcare must be patient centric. Ministry of Health and our clusters are working together to achieve patient centred care at three levels.

Reorganisation of clusters to provide integrated care

5.    First, at the system level, we have reorganised our public healthcare system into three integrated clusters so that we can better provide seamless, holistic care for Singaporeans and bring care closer to home. This is important as many patients, especially those with multiple chronic conditions, require longer-term care and treatment.

6.    Our integrated clusters will also build partnerships with private providers in the primary and community settings so that working together as one healthcare system, we can help Singaporeans stay healthy, meet their healthcare needs and support their needs as they age in place.

Better protocols that improve patient outcomes

7.    Second, at the institution level, we need to increasingly work across disciplines as a team, to deliver people-centred care. With more patients having multiple medical conditions in an ageing population, multi-disciplinary care to address different needs will become more crucial. People-centred team work is about different healthcare professionals – doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, support staff – coming together with enhanced protocols to diagnose, treat and rehabilitate patients so that we can improve outcomes that truly matter to them. These will include faster recovery and reduced hospital readmissions.

8.    At the SGH Burns Centre for example, patients are cared for by a multidisciplinary team of surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, and allied health professionals. To improve patient outcomes, the team developed a new protocol which includes quicker application of biological dressings to reduce the risk of infection, helping patients recover faster and have shorter hospital stays. Since 2014, more than 400 patients have benefitted from the new protocol, reducing length of stay from 16 to 12 days.

Going the extra mile in care

9.    Finally, at the level of the individual healthcare workers, we need to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of our patients and do what we can to improve the care we provide. This means constantly upgrading our skills and knowledge to give our patients better and more effective treatment, as well as showing empathy and concern to patients. We have a competent, caring and committed healthcare workforce. You make all the difference to the patients.

10.    A noteworthy example is Senior Therapy Assistant, Yogeshwari Kunjambu from Ang Mo Kio Thye Hua Kwan Hospital, who is known to go the extra mile for her patients. She would wheel patients out to the garden to have their lunch or take patients to the cafeteria for a cup of tea and a chat, especially when she senses that something is bothering them. She has also bought jigsaw puzzles and alphabet templates to make therapy sessions more interesting. I applaud Yogeshwari because genuine and sincere gestures can mean a lot to patients.

11.    Equally inspiring is the story of Nurse Manager Lingaraj Prabha from Ren Ci Community Hospital who came to Singapore to work just ten years ago. In order to communicate more effectively with her patients and better understand their needs, Lingaraj picked up Malay, Mandarin and even Hokkien. She also formed a team of nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists to redesign the hospital’s admission-to-discharge process and created a workflow to update and empower caregivers on the rehabilitation progress and needs of their patients.

Conclusion

12.    While the stories we heard this afternoon inspire us do our best for our patients, let us not forget that patients themselves too can make a difference and can encourage our healthcare workers with their tenacity and perseverance in getting their health back in shape. Our staff treasure patients’ appreciation and kind words that reaffirm their contributions. I am heartened that many of our award winners have received numerous compliments and words of encouragement from our patients.

13.    Once again, I want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you for your commitment, passion and selfless dedication to the healthcare profession. Let us continue to work together to make Singapore’s healthcare system even better for our people, and help them to lead healthier lives.