SPEECH BY MR TAN KIAT HOW, SENIOR MINISTER OF STATE, MDDI & MOH, AT THE SINGHEALTH ESTHER FESTIVAL

Professor Lee Chien Earn, Deputy Group CEO, SingHealth

Mr Lee Tzu Yang, Chairman of Public Service Commission (PSC)

Associate Professor Low Lian Leng, Chairman, Division of Population Health and Integrated Care (PHIC), Singapore General Hospital (SGH)

Friends and partners,

              A very good morning. It is my first time in Sengkang General Hospital, I’m very happy to have the chance to come by especially for such an important occasion, to celebrate the ESTHER Network. And also, a very warm welcome to our friends from Sweden – professors, thank you for mentoring and nurturing our own Esther here, and for helping to bring your knowledge and experience to the ESTHER Network in Singapore. We are very happy to have both of you here today, especially for professors who are here for the very first time, a very warm welcome to Singapore.

2.            ESTHER Network, as we shared earlier, was established within SingHealth in 2016. It was inspired by the movement that began in Sweden in 1997, and at the heart of its person-centred approach to care delivery lies a simple but profound question, “What matters to our patients?”. Behind every medical appointment and diagnosis is an individual with unique stories, hopes and worries.

3.            And since its inception, “ESTHER Network” engaged over 1,500 patients, affectionately known as “Esthers”, who volunteer their time and share their experiences to improve care. Together with over 400 trained ESTHER Coaches, SingHealth has shifted from just providing services to jointly developing solutions designed for people.

4.            For instance, ESTHER Physiotherapist Coaches at SGH teamed up with patients through the "Walking with a Star" programme, enabling them to stay mobile during their time in the ward. By listening to patients and staff, SGH developed a system that made it easier and safer for patients to walk during their hospital stay. This system led to an increase from 9% to 91% in patients walking in the ward after Physiotherapy Assessments. This approach has since been scaled to multiple wards.

Launch of the ESTHER Ambassador Recruitment Campaign

5.            Taking this collaboration further, I am delighted to launch the ESTHER Ambassador Recruitment Campaign today. Volunteers are not just partners to be consulted but are co-leaders in the care transformation process.

6.            So, I would also like to take this opportunity to recognise three outstanding ambassadors: Ms Sherena Loh, Ms Balkhis Bte Puteh, and Ms Jeyanthi Thenmozhiyal – three outstanding ambassadors that we have today.

7.            Take Ms Sherena for example. She exemplifies resilience and advocacy in transforming healthcare for persons with disabilities. Diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at 15 and told she wouldn't live beyond 25 years old, and today, she has defied expectations for over five decades and co-founded the Muscular Dystrophy Association (Singapore). Please give her a round of applause.

8.            And drawing from her lived experience as a long-term patient, Sherena collaborates with healthcare teams to advance inclusive design, she mentors healthcare students and participates in research projects that champion empowerment and dignity with care. As an ESTHER Ambassador, she shares her story at conferences and training sessions, amplifying voices of persons with disabilities. Her journey powerfully demonstrates that healing extends beyond medicine to encompass living with dignity.

9.            Ms Balkhis is another example. She was introduced to ESTHER Network Singapore in 2019. At that time, she was caring for her late father with end-stage kidney disease.  Drawing from her dual experience as both caregiver and patient, Ms Balkhis became an ESTHER Ambassador in 2020, believing deeply in sharing her insights to improve care for others. She has since contributed extensively to the network - reviewing coach training programmes, speaking at sharing sessions, co-authoring publications, and even representing Singapore in international healthcare dialogues.

10.         And our third example, Ms Jeyanthi, brings both lived experience as a kidney failure patient undergoing dialysis and her expertise as a PhD holder in Chemistry, and she brought both to her role as an ESTHER Ambassador since 2019. Initially invited by her medical social worker at SGH to share her experience at an ESTHER Café, she has since become an integral advocate for person-centred care. This includes co-producing educational videos for healthcare workers, speaking at live sessions, and providing feedback at coach development meetings and collaborative research initiatives. Her contributions exemplify the spirit of partnership between patients and healthcare professionals, helping to build a more compassionate and responsive health and social care system.

11.         These three remarkable women are shining examples of the transformative power of patient and caregiver voices in healthcare. Their journeys remind us that true healing happens when we listen to those we serve. So please give them another round of applause. These inspiring stories have made significant contributions to the community.

ESTHER Coach Graduation

12.         And today, we also celebrate the graduation of a new batch of coaches who have completed their ESTHER Coach training and person-centred improvement projects. To all the ESTHER Coaches, a very warm congratulations! Very happy for all of you.

13.         Your dedication strengthens our national journey towards Healthier SG, where we partner our residents to achieve better health together. These graduation projects add over 150 person-centred improvement initiatives that enhanced patients’ lives and care experience across care settings. I look forward to seeing your work scale up to benefit even more patients.

14.         And I encourage all of us to extend our person-centred care initiatives beyond our hospital walls to include the general practitioners. Our GPs are often the first point of contact and trusted healthcare partners for many Singaporeans in their health journey.

15.         By sharing the ESTHER methodology and training with primary care providers, we can ensure that the question "What matters to our patients?" resonates consistently across all touchpoints of care. This could involve developing GP-specific ESTHER Coach training programmes, creating shared platforms for patient feedback and insights, or establishing regular forums where hospital-based and community-based healthcare providers can learn from one another, and from each other's person-centred care experiences. When our residents experience the same person-centred approach whether they visit their neighbourhood GP clinic or receive specialist care at our hospitals, we create a truly integrated healthcare ecosystem that puts patients at the heart of all we do.

Closing

16.         So finally, to all award recipients and project teams, thank you for exemplifying partnership and teamwork in action. Our patients, caregivers and community residents bring their lived experiences; their families bring us their understanding of the daily realities; and healthcare professionals like yourselves bring knowledge and skills. When we bring all stakeholders in person centred care efforts, this partnership produces care that is sustainable and meaningful.

17.         So as we shape tomorrow’s care for Singaporeans, we should continue to ask the important question of “What matters to our patients, caregivers, and community residents?” and invite our patients and their caregivers to be active partners in managing their health and wellness. So I hope that collectively, our efforts will enable us to build a healthier Singapore.

18.         On that note, I also want to just echo what Professor Lee has said earlier. We are all very familiar in Singapore about the demographic trends and numbers and statistics. But beyond every statistic is a person, and a person has his own stories, his own concerns, his own worries, and a person has family and caregivers. So to me, it's not just about a statistic that we think about, demographic changes, but also how we focus healthcare to be person-centred, family centred, and community based, in addition to strengthening our healthcare systems across the board.

19.         And it is a challenge, but an amazing opportunity for us to transform healthcare delivery and services, uplift lives and really provide care and dignity to all Singaporeans, even in their later years. ESTHER Care networks, ambassadors, volunteers, all of you play such an important role in how we think about transformed healthcare system in the future.

20.         So, congratulations again to all the world, recipients, our coaches and I look forward to journeying together with all of you in our next chapter of transforming healthcare in Singapore. Thank you very much.