Speech by Mr Hawazi Daipi, SPS, at The National Medical Excellence Awards 2010

29 Jun 2010

By Mr Hawazi Daipi

Venue: Raffles Hotel

Introduction

1. I am very pleased to join you this evening at this National Medical Excellence Awards ceremony to celebrate and honour the achievements of our clinicians and clinician scientists. The Ministry of Health National Medical Excellence Awards was set up in 2008 to recognise clinical and research excellence. I am glad to note that over the past years, interest and recognition for the awards have grown – this is proof of the desire in our healthcare professionals to strive for medical excellence.

Driving Medical Excellence at National Level

2. To achieve and maintain consistently high levels of medical excellence in Singapore is not easy. It is a continuous effort by many people working at different levels. I will briefly touch on what I think are the 3 key drivers which will help us achieve and maintain medical excellence.

Importance of Clinical R&D and R&D Talent

3. The first driver would be the creation of new medical knowledge through research and development. Since the start of the Biomedical Sciences Initiative Phase Two in 2006, the Ministry has worked tirelessly with our partners to put in place many new R&D infrastructure initiatives in Singapore. This includes the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore Clinical Research Institute (SCRI), Centre for Translational Medicine at the Kent Ridge campus, and SingHealth’s Pathology building at the Outram campus. We have also established many national level competitive research frameworks, focused on translating research at the bench into clinical outcomes at the bedside. For example, the TCR flagship programmes set up over the past 2 years help address significant healthcare issues faced by Singapore such as dengue, obesity and gastric cancer. This is in line with the government’s push to invest in research and development across all sectors - Singapore is fast approaching the goal of reaching a 3 percent gross expenditure on R&D or GERD¹ by 2010.

4.  But investing in programmes and infrastructure alone is never enough. It is fundamental as well, to grow a dedicated pool of Clinicians, Clinician Investigators and Clinician Scientists to share in this common goal. Only together will we be able to drive our research initiatives forward. Since 2006, we have committed more than $130 million to train and fund our clinician scientists through various talent development programmes such as study fellowships and scholarships, Clinician Scientist Awards and the Singapore Translation Research Award, also known as STaR.

5.  I am pleased to note that Professor Wong Tien Yin, the winner of this year’s National Outstanding Clinician Scientist Award is also a STaR investigator. Prof Wong pioneered research on the role of retinal imaging to assist in the evaluation of heart disease and diabetes risks, of which both are leading causes of morbidity in Singapore. His work has led to eye examinations being more routinely used to evaluate heart disease and diabetes. These recommendations have appeared in some international clinical guidelines – changing clinical practice around the world. Prof Wong is also widely involved in international large-scale epidemiological studies. To date, he has successfully built up an internationally acclaimed eye research programme which has attracted more than $20 million in research funding both locally and overseas. Professor Wong Tien Yin is truly an example worthy of our emulation.

Training of Medical Professionals

Medical

6. The second key driver is clinical training. The government is investing significantly more resources to improve the postgraduate medical education of medical specialists and family physicians. Enhancements have already begun – starting with the launch of residency programmes in 7 different medical specialties in May 2010. Preparations to launch residency programmes in yet another 7 specialties and in family medicine are currently underway. These programmes will be ready in 2011. Residency programmes will help to bring about better training curriculum and infrastructures. Our investments in these programmes will allow more protected time for clinical faculty to teach and for trainees to learn. The enhanced system will also allow an increased training throughput to ensure that more doctors are trained to function at a higher level. These changes are part of our drive to continuously upgrade and ensure medical excellence.

Nursing & Allied

7. In equal footing, advanced training must also take place for other healthcare professionals such as nursing and allied health professionals. Over the last few years, nursing has achieved major milestones in clinical training including the introduction of NUS nursing bachelors and masters degree programmes as well as the development of Advanced Practice Nurses. I am glad to note that the NUS nursing degree programme has graduated 28 nurses this year, with an additional 19 going on to complete another honours year. In addition, the school has also begun a nursing doctorate programme to expand nursing research in Singapore. A total of 7 candidates are currently pursuing their nursing doctoral degrees. The government is also significantly increasing the number of scholarships awarded for the training of Allied Health Professionals.

8. Together, these efforts will help to ensure a critical mass of excellent practitioners, academics and researchers in the field of nursing and allied health to meet the changing healthcare needs of Singapore.

Continuous Quality Improvement - New Award Category for 2010 – National Outstanding Clinician Quality Activist Award

9. The third key driver for medical excellence is the continuous improvement of existing health care processes. These efforts are not possible without the many champions of clinical quality projects. It is with this in mind that a new category of awards has been introduced this year – the National Outstanding Clinician Quality Activist Award.

10. This award, introduced this year, recognises all medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals in the public and private healthcare sectors who have contributed significantly to clinical quality improvement and patient safety and have inspired others likewise. I am pleased to share with you the achievements of the 2 inaugural award winners. Both winners have a long history of championing clinical quality in their respective spheres of influence, leading to significant outcomes at the national and international level.

11. Mrs Nellie Yeo, the Chief Quality Officer at the National Healthcare Group and the Executive Director of NHG College is the first nurse to win an individual NME award. This is in recognition of her efforts in driving quality improvement for almost two decades. Her efforts in championing Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation for NUH played a key role in inspiring our other public healthcare sector institutions in Singapore on the accreditation journey. Today, Mrs Yeo also serves as an international JCI consultant, a position that enables her to share and spread her knowledge and passion for healthcare improvement internationally along with a unique Singaporean perspective. She is a shining example not just for her pioneering work in clinical quality improvement, but also an inspiration to others passionate about clinical quality and wishing to embark on a quality improvement career.

12. The other inaugural award winner is A/Prof Tan Kok Hian, Chairman of the Division of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the KK Hospital. He has been a clinician champion in every sense of the word, working on improving systems and processes especially in peri-natal care while keeping up his clinical practice.  He initiated programmes to improve the safety and quality of birth delivery and a system that enables rapid mobilisation of teams to carry out emergency caesarean sections.  These initiatives have saved lives. He provides leadership and his passion for quality improvement services as role model for other clinical colleagues.

Retention of Good Medical Professionals

13. Last but not least, to ensure that our medical excellence efforts are sustained, good medical professionals must be recognized and retained in our system so that they can reach the pinnacle of their professional careers. The presence of exemplary clinician mentors will also help strengthen our culture of continuous learning, education and excellence. I am pleased to note that Professor Ho Lai Yun and Professor Vathsala have won this year’s National Outstanding Clinician Mentor and National Outstanding Clinician awards respectively. They are master clinicians in their own rights but have also put in much effort to prepare the next generation of clinicians to take on mantle of medical excellence. In the same spirit, I shall also ask the National Medical Excellence Awards Committee to consider starting a National Outstanding Clinician Educator Award next year.

Conclusion

14. In our journey of medical excellence, there will be role models and teams that we must honour and appreciate. Our awards today tell a story of dedication and commitment to better patient care. Please allow me to offer my congratulations to all award winners. I wish you all every success in providing the very best for Singaporeans.

¹ GERD in 2008 reached 2.77% (source: National Survey of R&D 2008, A*STAR)