engage NOV – DEC 2012 | ISSUE 14
@JurongHealth
04-05 Standard Chartered marathon
Success Achieved As Medical Provider
08
10-15
EMR Moves Forward With EPIC
Our Building Blocks of Quality
Project onecare
Quality Month
HIGHLIGHTS
02-03 FOCUS
04-09 FEATURE
FOCUS
u N m e ber r ’ e W
10-15 QUALITY MONTH
16-17 HOSPITAL PLANNING
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SERVICE QUALITY
19-23
HAPPENINGS
24
MUSINGS
Writer Jacinta Leow Editor Tessa Monteiro Editorial Advisor Casey Chang
In just over two years of managing Alexandra Hospital (AH), JurongHealth has clinched the second spot in the MOH Patient Satisfaction Survey (PSS) 2012 with a score of 79 per cent — a 2.4 per cent improvement from the previous year in terms of overall satisfaction. A strong showing of 81 per cent of those surveyed also said that they would be willing to recommend AH’s services to other patients. To chronicle this milestone and to thank patients for their vote of confidence, AH’s kitchen whipped up 600 specially-baked fruit tarts for
our patients in the wards and clinics. All staff and service partners were treated to a three-hour celebratory lunch at the AH cafeteria. Patients and visitors who visited the canteen were pleasantly surprised by the free lunch treat which was extended to them as well! Some of our colleagues were served by A/Prof Cheah Wei Keat, Chairman Medical Board; Dr Gerald Chua, Head of Medicine; Ms Kuttiammal Sundarasan, Director of Nursing and; Mr Tan Han Kiat, Assistant Director, Operations Support Services. Our colleagues on night shift as well as those at Jurong Medical Centre were also surprised by snacks as a show of appreciation. It was the hospital’s way of thanking staff for their efforts.
Said Mr Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive Officer, “We set out to make a difference to our patients daily, and moving up one notch in overall ranking is a bonus. We wish to thank our patients for their support which has enabled us to step up to second position in the PSS 2012. Their vote of confidence will inspire the entire JurongHealth team to do even better in caring for our patients and the community. Every feedback is a learning opportunity which enables us to better understand the needs of patients and their loved ones. No detail is too small. In fact, the ability to pay attention to detail will take us to the next level of being truly patient-centred.” Keep up the great work JurongHealth!
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FEATURE
MARINA BARRAGE
JurongHealth Keeps
You Running!
For the first time, JurongHealth was privileged to be the Medical Provider for the annual Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) — an event which saw 53,000 runners competing the various categories. Co-led by Dr Quek Lit Sin, Head of Emergency Medicine Department, who also doubled as Medical Director for the race, and Mr Ng Kian Swan, Assistant Chief Operating Officer, Service Operations, the JurongHealth medical team of clinicians, nurses, operations, allied health, administrative staff and first aiders worked effortlessly together to realise another major project. Spread across the Padang, Marina Barrage and Resorts World Sentosa, first aid tents were set up at these locations to offer runners relief and a warm cheer. Aside from caring for the injured, the team took the opportunity to introduce new processes into SCMS such as onsite blood tests to tailor the management for runners who were dehydrated or salt-depleted. Clinical protocols for the management of Exercise Associated Collapse (EAC) and heat injuries — common causes of fatality in a marathon — were also introduced. We also deployed additional mobile resources (e.g. bicycle) for rapid deployment of medical resources, and set up a Venue Command Centre to offer seamless care control at all three locations and swift transfer of critical cases to hospitals. Dr Quek attributed the success of the event to excellent teamwork. He said, “This experience has brought our staff closer and strengthened our identity.”
Team work shone as everyone assumed their roles smoothly in a common goal to relieve runners of their pain, and to prevent further casualties from happening. The camaraderie was also evident when one of the runners who had fainted mid-way during the race due to heat exhaustion was brought to the medical tent for aid. In a letter to a local newspaper, the runner’s nextof-kin commended the well-executed resuscitation efforts which demonstrated the preparedness of all involved. To all our staff, partners and supporters for this event, Engage would like to say thank you and you did a great job!
JurongHealth would like to thank the following companies for supporting us: Co-medical provider Alexandra Health Partners Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, National University of Singapore Institute of Technical Education J-Watchers Ngee Ann Polytechnic St John Ambulance of Singapore Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore Supporters Transmedic Advanced Medical Technologies ZOLL
4 bicycles 4 cruzers
5 doctors
2 Rav 4s
6 ambulances
15 adminstration/ ancillary staff
65 29 nurses/ allied health staff
05 PADANG 1 cruzer 2 Rav 4s
SENTOSA
5 bicycles 8 doctors
6 bicycles
4 doctors
3 buggies
12 ambulances
4 cruzers
100
2 Rav 4s
4 ambulances
18 adminstration/ ancillary staff
54 nurses/ allied health staff
3 adminstration/ ancillary staff
57 31 nurses/ allied health staff
THANK YOU FROM OUR PARTNERS The performance and quality delivery of medical services on-site reflected a solid commitment and outstanding professionalism of the team. This truly augurs well for both your institution as well as the image of the Singapore Medical Service, and that perhaps was the main reason why the Doping Control Director from IAAF visited your tent repeatedly. Well done! Mr Ng Eng Soon, Director of Sports Event Division, Singapore Medical Council
It was great working with your team and it gave us great confidence that the care provided to the participants will be first rate. Your commitment, professionalism and willingness to “go the extra mile” is greatly appreciated. We look forward to continuing the partnership — hopefully for the OCBC Cycle Singapore next. Spectrum Worldwide
FEATURE
Managing Risks Proactively All of us have a role to play in detecting, preventing and responding to risks proactively. Risk is defined as the effect of uncertainty on objectives and it is inherent in healthcare. There are clinical risks, business risks (i.e. fraud, operation disruption, shortage of critical talent) as well as workplace safety and health risks. Here is a five-step process on how each of us can apply the risk management process step-by-step and do our part to manage risk:
1
ESTABLISH THE CONTEXT Define the strategic objectives and relevant KPIs
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4
MONITOR THE RISK Develop early warning signals (i.e. KRIs) for monitoring risks
2
ASSESS THE RISK Risk identification, analysis and evaluation based on the established context
COMMUNICATE AND CONSULT Engage stakeholders throughout the process
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RESPOND TO RISK Develop action plans to manage risks to an acceptable level
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1
Establish the context
JurongHealth’s corporate goals and our operational objectives form the context or parameters for us to identify and assess risk issues.
2
Assess the risk
Identify the risk by asking “What can go wrong and prevent us from meeting our operational objectives?” Quantify risk by analysing sources of risk or root causes, the effectiveness of existing risk control measures and the consequences should risk occur. Risk assessment and measurement can be subjective. Therefore, we should use a common ‘ruler’ (i.e. the risk likelihood and consequence tables) to ensure consistency in measuring risks across JurongHealth. Risk is expressed in terms of a combination of consequences of an event and the associated likelihood of occurrence. The quantified risks are grouped into four levels – low, medium, high and extreme. High and extreme risks are consolidated and escalated for review by senior leaders and JurongHealth Board’s Audit Committee bi-annually.
3
Respond to risk
5
Communicate and consult stakeholders throughout the process
Risks cannot be eliminated completely and should be brought down to an acceptable level. What is acceptable? It is dependent on the risk tolerance and appetite of the organisation.
To facilitate positive risk management outcomes, relevant, clear and timely consultation and communication at all stages of the risk management process is essential.
Risk tolerance refers to the amount of risks that we (as an organisation) can bear. Risk appetite refers to the amount of risks that we are willing to take to achieve our objectives and goals.
Risk information gathered throughout the process will be recorded in a risk register, which serves as a tool for communicating, tracking and reporting of risks.
When treating risks, consider: • cost versus benefits of treatment; • relevance and applicability of treatment; • reliability and any associating risks for treatment; • availability of resources required; • timeline; and • roles and responsibilities.
As of August 2012,
56 per cent of JurongHealth has participated in an ongoing risk
4 4
management exercise and
Monitor THE risk
158 risks have been identified.
Managing risk is a continuous effort. Although we brought risk to an acceptable level, risk may change due to the constantly changing external environment; new risks may emerge; and risk profile may change too due to changes in strategies. We can set risk indicators to monitor the risk; review incident trends or near misses; conduct selfassessment and even carry out independent audit reviews to check for effectiveness and adequacy of our internal controls and risk management strategies.
Let’s work towards a safer and better workplace and hospital for our patients and us!
FEATURE
EMR Moves Forward with Epic
In August 2011, we embarked on a quest for a truly integrated electronic medical record (EMR) to realise our vision of transforming care and delivering a hassle-free healthcare system. Driven by our clinicians and business users, the mammoth initiative to transform care and enable seamless sharing of patient’s medical conditions, care plans, test results etc, involved all levels from ground staff to senior management. A total of 17 workgroups (each corresponding to a respective core business aspect) were set up to provide requirements, direction and input to the desired EMR system and they spent much time evaluating and testing the relevant modules of the various EMR vendors. Finally, after months of hard work, numerous meetings and teleconferences (sometimes held in the wee hours of the morning!) to review and fine tune the project, we are pleased to announce that the EMR contract has been awarded to Epic — whose software has been deployed in many global medical groups, hospitals and integrated healthcare organisations including the Cleveland Clinic in the US and Abu Dhabi, Duke University, Geisinger Health Systems, Kaiser Permanente, Sentara, Stanford Hospital Systems, Swedish Medical Center, Weill Cornell Physicians, etc. For JurongHealth, the implementation will take place in three main areas, namely Inpatient, Ambulatory and the Ancillaries, which include Laboratory, RIS-Radiology and Pharmacy. Overseeing the roll out is our EMR project team which comprises a strategy of a blended team of MI- Medical Informatics, IT- Information Technology and Improvement & Innovation. The team will be working closely with various workgroups and our vendor to build a system that will improve on the existing systems to innovate from what is currently practiced.
Look out for more exciting news on ProjectOne Care’s EMR progress here! Phase 0 Pre-install planning (October 2012 – January 2013)
Phase 1 Training, scoping and discovery (January – June 2013)
Phase 2 Validation (July – August 2013)
Phase 3 Build and workflow design (September 2013 – February 2014)
Phase 4 Testing and go live preparation
Initiation and conception: the team conducts planning and scoping of the EMR implementation plan. Readiness: staff will be sent for training in the US and Singapore to build their competency in the new system. Workflow preparation and validation: the team configures the new system to meet JurongHealth’s specifications and requirements. Final validation/sign-off phase: all workflow generated in the validation phase is tested and signed off for deployment in the actual system. End-users are trained for the “go live” phase.
(March – September 2014)
Phase 5 Go live (October 2014 – January 2015)
Phase 6 Rollout and optimisation (February – July 2015)
Go live: the system will be rolled out to Jurong Medical Centre and Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in October and December 2014 respectively. Post-implementation review and tweaking of the EMR: preparation for Jurong Community Hospital to go live.
09 Congratulations To Our Dedicated Clinicians! At the end of every academic year, the NUS Dean’s Award is given to a clinician in recognition of his/her efforts in teaching. The recipient of the award is selected based on their time committed to teaching as well as feedback and ratings from the medical students. Two of our clinicians have been honoured with this award, namely:
Dr Noel Stanley Tay
• Dr Noel Stanley Tay, Senior Consultant, Department of Medicine, received the Award for 2009/10 for his longstanding commitment to the teaching faculty. • Dr Fareed Husain Yusuf Kagda, Senior Consultant, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, received the award in 2010/11 for his unparalleled dedication.
Dr Fareed Husain Yusuf Kagda
Meanwhile, Dr Adeline Tan, Consultant, Department of Medicine, who has been teaching as part of the NUHS Residency Programme for ten months, was also recognised in the NUH PG Teaching Excellence Award 2012 which recognises excellent, inspiring and passionate teachers who exude pride in teaching and who convey knowledge and skills in an engaging manner. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate these excellent educators for their hard work and ensuring our future generation of doctors receive the best possible education.
Dr Adeline Tan
JurongHealth Takes a Silver at the Singapore Health Award At the Singapore Health (Helping Employees Achieve Life-Time Health) Award Presentation Ceremony on 30 November 2012, JurongHealth added another feather to its cap by clinching silver. Presented by the Health Promotion Board, this award aims to give national recognition to organisations with commendable Workplace Health Promotion programmes that strive to help their employees lead healthy and vibrant lives. The award also acknowledges niche areas which companies have done well to promote employee wellness, such as Physical Activity, Mental Wellness, Nutrition and Smoke-free practices. These were highlighted as separate categories so as to raise their importance in a workplace to improve employee health and wellbeing.
QUALITY MONTH
The Building BlockS of Quality
“We are a young organisation, compared to other healthcare clusters in Singapore. It is not an easy task to simultaneously run the current hospital whilst setting up not one but two, and yet think of improvement and innovation as a priority in all that we do. However, we have to keep learning how to weave in our values, foundation and guiding principles strongly and tightly, in order to keep improving as a better twin-hospital and remain a resilient and tenacious JurongHealth family.” Mr Lim Yong Wah, Chairman, JurongHealth Board
“Just like how we build our new hospitals, we have to do the piling work, set the foundation before building on these foundation blocks to create a hospital that is unique to us and to the community that we are serving. Our Quality journey is exactly the same. First, we have our values IPOEM and BEST +++ that will keep us unified and deeply rooted to the ground, keeping us stable. Then this year, we lay our foundation blocks and name the 12 dimensions of Quality as our guiding principles to provide quality patient-centred care.” Mr Lim Yong Wah, Chairman, JurongHealth Board
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“We should design and build quality into our infrastructure, systems, processes, practices and culture as we build our hospitals. We have now a unique opportunity to build not one but two hospitals. These two hospitals together with our partners will form an integrated healthcare system for the western region of Singapore. Please don’t miss this chance of designing and building quality at this stage of our hospital development.” Mr Low Wong Fook, Member, JurongHealth Board
“Quality, like safety is everyone’s business. So, at the practice level, we can build practices that make use of group dynamics to remind ourselves of the importance of quality; to remind ourselves that each of us can do something to make a difference in quality. Do not underestimate the many small suggestions and tiny tweaks which each of us is able to make daily. Bear in mind that taken together, they can lead to big changes. So, build this into our work habits and culture.” Mr Low Wong Fook, Member, JurongHealth Board
QUALITY MONTH
Apprec AND Achi Awa Appreciation awards
Achievement Awards
These awards were given to representatives from the following committees for their contribution towards quality assurance:
Individual and Team Achievement awards were given to several staff for reasons ranging from encouraging safety; ensuring good standards for patient meals; showing leadership skills in Allied Health risk management; launching innovative ideas or procedures and; spearheading quality and safety agendas.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Bioethics Committee Blood Transfusion Committee Cardiac Life Support Committee Clinical Research Committee Clinical Risk Management Committee Correct Site Surgery Workgroup Credentialing & Privileging Committee Endocentre Committee Enterprise Risk Management Falls Safety Sub-Committee Infection Control Committee JMC Infection Control Workgroup Lab Quality Management Committee Laboratory Safety Committee Medical Learning & Development Committee Medication Safety Sub-committee Operating Theatre Committee Patient Safety Committee Patient Safety Work Group Pharmacy & Therapeutics Committee Point of Care Testing Committee Sedation Committee Tissue Audit Committee Workplace Safety and Health Committee Service Quality
and many more...
Team Achievement Awards: • • • • • • •
• •
• • • • • •
Telemetry Project Handover Project Correct Site Surgery Project Endoscopy Work Group Project Improvement on Laboratory Safety Use of protective sleeves for the transportation of blood culture bottles by the pneumatic tube system Improving the Efficiency Enteral Nutrition Orders Through the Electronic Inpatient Medical Record (eIMR) Improving the Pharmacy Inpatient Discharge Medication Turnaround Time To Reduce the 95th Percentile Door-to-ECG Time for Ambulatory Patients in ED with Symptoms of Chest Pain/Angina Equivalent A Quick Step Guide Can Help Staff in Performing Non-Routine Work Reduce Inpatient Falls Incidence to 1.0 or Less Reducing Medical Errors by Creation of SR and IR Drug List Correct Patient Identification from Emergency Department to Ward System Improvement Prevents Medication Errors Multimodal Intervention to Increase Hand Hygiene Compliance in Patient Safety
In addition, there were seven prize winners for Quality Detective and T-shirt Design competition. Congratulations guys, let’s continue to practise safety and quality as we journey on as a team. Thanks to the multi-departmental effort for a job well done: Dr Ng Huey Ping (Chairman); Sim Kay Wee and Durgai Devi (Innovation and Improvement Committee); Zaiton Binte Abu Bakar and Mohamad Abdul Wahab (Medicine Safety Committee); Soong Sau Leng (Infection Control); Dr Tupper-Carey Darell Alexander and Tan Wan Hian (Research Committee); Queenie Quek (Service Quality); Fiona Kam (Workplace Safety and Health); Lye Siew Lin (Hospital Planning); Elaine Goh and Joanna Chia (JCI Steering Committee); Rohana Binte Anang (Falls Committee); Joanna Chia (Medical Affairs); Jennifer Wee (Enterprise Risk Management); Annette Aw (Jurong Medical Centre); Candy Ng (Communications). Here are some pictures of our award winners:
ciation ievement ardS
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Quality month
Quality Month Talks Human factors in healthcare Dr Brian Peacock, Professor, SIM University, was at the Auditorium on 15 October 2012 to give a talk on “Human Factors in Healthcare: Connecting Worker Safety to Patient Safety”. Dr Peacock has extensive experience in ergonomics, human factors, statistics, work design, biomechanics, systems design and safety. He revealed that most workplace errors are attributed to human errors, which can sometimes be fatal, e.g. train crashes and medical botch-ups. However, instead of assigning blame when things go wrong, we should find out how that person’s assessment made sense at that time. The organisation should also practise safety at all levels of the organisation to reduce errors.
Medical Research at Alexandra Hospital (AH) Staff who were awarded the JurongHealth Internal Research Grant presented their research findings during a lunchtime talk on 2 November 2012. Colleagues from the Department of Medicine, Dr Tagore Rajat, Senior Consultant and Director, Dr Lim Cui Xi, Medical Officer (right), and their team found that depression is more prevalent than anxiety in haemodialysis patients, but adequate dialysis and better nutrition may reduce the incidence of depression. However, significant correlation cannot be drawn for anxiety. On the other hand, Ms Christine Wu, Assistant Manager of Medical Affairs, and her team used predictive modelling to develop and validate an index for predicting the risk of emergency hospital readmission. This could be used to prompt clinicians to take appropriate action before discharging high-risk patients and thus lowering the chance of re-admission. Employing this method will certainly improve our level of care for patients.
Effective infection control
On 31 October 2012, Dr Ling Moi Lin, Director of Infection Control, Singapore General Hospital, gave a talk on “Germs and the Environment”. She has 30 years of experience in healthcare, 15 of which are in her sub-specialty of clinical microbiology. Dr Ling touched on how overcrowding, understaffing and pressure to move more patients through the healthcare system could challenge the completion of environment cleaning. Despite regular cleaning and terminal clean following the discharge of a patient, the environment may still harbour organisms, and patients can acquire them. This is where new technologies come in as they can help reduce the risk of transmission. She also shared local and overseas case studies of cross-contamination.
15 Held over a month from 15 October to 16 November 2012, our guest speakers, experts in their own fields, came from all over the world. Our colleagues were spoilt for choice at the range of informative talks which touched on areas such as medical research, project management and designing for and improving patient safety. We thank our colleagues from Workplace Safety and Health; Patient Safety and Infection Control; Research Committee; Hospital Planning; and Improvement and Innovation for organising these sessions.
Striving for Excellence Through Project MANAGEMENT
On 12 November 2012, Mr Jeremy Peh, Principal Trainer of Semion Consulting Group, shed some light on what project management was and how we could use it to our advantage. He introduced the four types of mental blocks – cultural, perceptual, intellectual and emotional − we commonly encounter and which prevent us from achieving our goals. Some activities were conducted to demonstrate how these mental blocks limited our thinking skills. Mr Peh also highlighted that project management could help us sidestep these mental blocks and as long as we could juggle deliverables, time and resources well, the project would be successful. The audience then broke into groups to role play and examine some case studies.
Designing for Patient Safety On 6 November 2012, we were privileged to have Mrs Ruby Lai, Architect Consultant for Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) and Jurong Community Hospital (JCH), share how the design of healthcare facilities can ensure safe delivery of care for patients and staff in a talk titled “Designing for Patient Safety”. Mrs Lai has more than 35 years of experience in architecture, 17 of which are healthcare projects. Ms Lai also shared about the Building Construction Authority’s design guide and safety design features which JurongHealth will put in place at NTFGH and JCH when we open our doors.
Improving Patient Safety by Improving Communication We were pleased to host Dr Peter Lee, Medical Consultant, Healthcare Communication and Human Factors, Council Member of the Australian Patient Safety Foundation, Australia, on 9 November 2012. Dr Lee led participants through several examples of strategies and tools that can improve communication in healthcare settings. These tools cover staff to patient and staff to staff communication issues. For each technique covered, participants were asked to critically evaluate the training methods and presentation skills needed in order to achieve lasting behavioural change.
HOSPITAL PLANNING
SOC Shows Its Creative Side Our colleagues at the Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOC) A, B, C, G, J, K, L, M and Main Rehab found themselves tapping into their creative energies recently to improve care delivery and patient satisfaction. They came up with various designs for the registration and billing tray to improve current processes in patient registration. The contest began on 29 October 2012, and the nine participating teams were given a month to come up with a new in-tray design to help identify patients on a first-come-first-serve basis. The contest’s two judges, Lee Khek Fong, Senior Nurse Manager, and Joyce Tan, Supervisor, Service Operations, rated the designs and judged its user-friendliness. All SOC colleagues also casted votes based on “WOW” factors such as whether the tray could reflect a queue system, if it was space saving and allowed secondary usage after achieving its main objective? l roughout al plicated th gn will be re spitals come 2014. si de ng ni The win r new ho used in ou SOCs and
No winner has been announced as the judges wanted the clinics to use these prototypes in a “live” setting to determine their feasibility. The team that meets the most, if not all the judging criteria, will be announced before the end of January 2013.
We Are Expanding! Our fast expanding workforce has prompted Operations Support Services and Hospital Planning to develop additional office space here at Alexandra Hospital. If you have walked past the Hostel, a red brick building located after Block 17 which houses the Materials Management Department, you would have noticed some construction on an empty plot of land which began in September 2012. Projected to be ready in March 2013, the new three-storey office building will have seats for 630 staff. Featuring a gross floor area of 6,900sqm, it will have changing rooms with 850 lockers, seven training rooms, workstations, meeting rooms, breakout areas, an alfresco café and 60 parking lots.
17 JurongHealth Awards 14 Nominated Sub-contracts Our new home in the west has begun to take shape from ground up with the superstructure construction of our new hospitals since October 2012 by GS Engineering & Construction. Meanwhile, 14 companies have been awarded Nominated Sub-contracts to work on lifts and escalators, air conditioning, fire protection, electrical installation and softscape work, among others. Here’s a look at some of our partners on board:
Shinryo Corporation won the rights to handle air conditioning and mechanical ventilation at Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) and Jurong Community Hospital (JCH).
A representative of ST Electronics inking the contract to manage security at NTFGH and JCH.
Look out for more updates on our new hospitals here! List of Nominated Sub-contracts
Mr Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive Officer (third from right) with Mr Tan Tai Soon, Director of Hospital Planning (left) and representatives of Prince’s Landscape & Construction Pte Ltd. The company will manage softscape works at our new hospitals to facilitate an integral and pleasant experience for patients and visitors.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.
Lift & Escalator Installation Fire Protection Extra Low Voltage System 1 Kitchen Equipment Central Sterilised Supply Dept Equip (CSSD) Instrumentation Electrical Installation Air-conditioning & Mechanical Ventilation Softscape Works Façade System Modular Operating Theatres Installation Security System Pneumatic Tube System Automated Guided Vehicle System
Fujitec Singapore Corporation Ltd Deluge Fire Protection (SEA) Pte Ltd Johnson Controls (S) Pte Ltd Somerville Pte Ltd IDS Medical System (S’pore) Pte Ltd GeoApplication Engineers Pte Ltd Bee Kong Electrical Engineering Pte Ltd Shinryo Corporation Prince’s Landscape & Const Pte Ltd Permasteelisa Pacific Holdings Ltd Shinryo Corporation Singapore Technologies Electronics BES Technology Pte Ltd Swisslog Pte Ltd
SERVICE QUALITY
Compliments
Dr Sebastian Leong, Clinic G & Vejiya Malathi d/o Ramakrishnan, Endoscopy Centre Both provided very good service, and are friendly and kind. It was my first time here and I was scared but they made me comfortable. I would like to thank them.
Dante Cordero Polintan, Radiology Tan Kian Lip Erick, Rehabilitation He is patient and passionate. He explained clearly how I should feed my mum. I would recommend him to my friends if they need a speech therapist. Erick has excellent bedside manners, is humorous and approachable. He kept us at ease and provided good and useful information.
Dante was very professional and helped me to practice breathing techniques several times before the scan. I felt very comfortable with the whole procedure and overall it was a very pleasant experience.
Dr Christopher Pearce, Orthopaedic Surgery
Dr Mohammed Rizwan Amanullah, Medicine Dr Mohammed Rizwan is so humble, approachable, considerate, kind and calm. Most of all, he’s very dedicated to his work and is a team player. He always makes sure that his patients have everything they need. His professionalism needs to be lauded. Thank you Doctor! You deserve praise. Keep it up!
Dr Christopher was professional and humble. He showed empathy and provided value-added input to address my condition and well-being. He is definitely one of the few doctors who listens to his patients and was able to provide comforting advice and the hope of quick recovery.
SN Udaya Shaliny Paramanathan & EN Zhang Yali, Ward 12 SEN Ker Yok Tin, EMD She is experienced, helpful and warm, and she showed care and concern. When I called up regarding my concern, she was very professional, and took the time to explain carefully to me. I hope you will continue to impress and inspire your colleagues. I encourage all staff to continue pursuing the mission and practising the values.
I had a great experience at AH, under the care of nurses Ms Udaya and Ms Zhang Ya Li. Ms Udaya’s professionalism was seen especially in her warm smile and dedication. She always ensured her patients were well taken care of. Thank you so much for all the care and gentleness rendered to me. Best of luck in whatever you do in the near future and keep up the good work.
Dr Govinden Lynette, Clinic B Dr Lynette explained in detail my results and was very patient. She showed concern by asking whether I had a family history of diabetes and encouraged me to find out. Thank you doctor, you are so kind.
SN Ling Ing Ing, Ward 5 SN Ling is very professional and responsible. She is compassionate and selfless. I observed that she stayed back to help out in the ward even though her shift was over. I would like to thank all the doctors and nurses in Ward 5. I’ll always remember how caring they were. Thank you so much!
19 CEO & CMB Townhall The overly subscribed CEO & CMB Townhall sessions were held over three days from 22 to 24 October 2012. Mr Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive Officer, opened the session by delivering the good news that Alexandra Hospital was on target for more than 70 per cent of our KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), and that the development of our new hospitals is on target. The audience was also encouraged upon hearing that we achieved the highest compliment to complaint ratio in September; for every complaint made, we also received 32 compliments. A/Prof Cheah Wei Keat, Chairman Medical Board, then touched on engaging the community through health screenings and the importance of multidisciplinary clinics. Dr Tan Chee Keat, Head of Intensive Care Medicine, was also invited to share more about the one combined Intensive Care Unit (ICU) concept to the audience.
COO Exchange Ms Joanne Yap, Chief Operating Officer, held a dialogue session with operational staff on 9 October 2012. At the COO Exchange session were colleagues from Allied Health, Clinical Operations, Corporate Planning, Information Technology, Operations Support Services, Service Operations, and Innovation and Improvement. COO used the concept of “Kampung spirit” to inspire the audience to continue practising our values of IPOEM – Integrity, Patientcentredness, Open-mindedness, Excellence and Mutual Respect. Our colleagues learnt that a new site on hospital grounds is being developed to house our fast expanding workforce (see page 16). Other topics that were touched on included our commitment to patients, improving the health of the general public; transition planning; and EMR (Electronic Medical Record) and non-EMR solutions.
HAPPENINGS
The Hard Truths About Smoking
Smoking took on a different meaning for some students of South View Primary School on 29 October 2012. It was not just an anti-smoking talk; there were actual specimens of a diseased black lung, an ulcerated stomach and two hearts with clogged arteries on loan from the National University of Singapore. Led by Dr Soh Poh Choong, Principal Resident Physician of Emergency Medicine Department (EMD), the initiative is a pilot programme specifically targeted at Primary 6 students to educate them on the hard truths about smoking. Dr Quek Lit Sin, Head of EMD hopes to eventually involve the Singapore Armed Forces to prevent young men from picking up the habit during National Service. Good job to our EMD colleagues!
Acting In The Patient’s Best Interest We were very privileged to host Dr Carolyn Johnston in our Auditorium on 1 November 2012. An adviser in Medical Law & Ethics at King’s College London, School of Medicine, she shared that acting in the patient’s best interest was multi-dimensional as there were many factors involved. For example, how much weight should
be attributed to a patient’s values, beliefs, wishes and feelings? Also, what was the treatment likely to achieve; was it futile? Dr Johnston got the audience thinking hard when she offered case studies and asked what decision would be in the patient’s best
interest. After the lecture, some members of the audience regrouped at the Day Room to share case studies with Dr Johnston. It was certainly enlightening and Engage thanks the Learning and Development Department for this thought provoking talk.
21 Stay Well. Heal. Empower. More than 63 per cent of JurongHealth participated in the annual health screening this year – a 25 per cent increase from last year. Held from 1 to 15 October 2012, height, weight, Body Mass Index (BMI), waist and blood pressure were measured, and fasting blood glucose and fasting lipid profile were tested. In addition, a health and lifestyle survey was conducted to encourage staff to lead a healthy lifestyle. As part of our mission to Stay Well. Heal. Empower., staff were encouraged to participate in the annual flu vaccination programme. Leading by example, members of senior management including Mr Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive Officer, A/Prof Cheah Wei Keat, Chairman Medical Board and Ms Joanne Yap, Chief Operating Officer, were among the first few to get vaccinated. Engage would like to thank our Health and Wellness colleagues and the Nursing Department for their efforts.
Shape Up With Fruit & Vegetables Exhibition If you were at AH main lobby on 19 November 2012, you would have noticed an exhibition booth overflowing with people attracted by the colourful and informative posters as well servings of free fruit. In collaboration with students from Singapore Polytechnic, our dietitians promoted to staff and visitors the benefits of consuming a variety of different-coloured fruit and vegetables, and practical ways of calculating serving size. As part of the exhibition, the “Shape Up with Fruit & Vegetables” Healthy Reward Card was launched. Holders of the card who regularly bought cut fruit and salad at AH Garden Café could redeem free servings over nearly three weeks. We speak for the rest of JurongHealth when we say thanks to the Dietetics & Nutrition Department and look forward to more of such healthy initiatives!
HAPPENINGS
Allied Health Rocks
Allied Health Celebration on 20 November 2012 was a highly-charged evening of song and dance. Staff from departments such as Rehabilitation, Pharmacy, Psychology and Optometry brought the Auditorium down with their retro outfits, amazing camaraderie and extraordinary performances. While songbirds from Podiatry, Speech Therapy and Medical Social Services enchanted us with their beautiful voices, Team M&E from Dietetics & Nutrition, The Instrumentalists from
Laboratory Medicine, Respiratory Therapy and Respiratory Medicine wowed us with their moves. In a show of racial harmony, Team Occupational Therapy which consisted of a mostly Chinese team, put up an Indian dance. Team Radiography stood out for their smooth moves as they performed Gangnam style. Topping the event was a prize presentation by Mr Foo Hee Jug, Chief Executive Officer, to the winning teams for their dazzling performances.
23 Speech Therapy Day
Our speech therapists were at the AH main lobby on 9 November 2012 to share with staff and visitors how they can help patients with speech, language, communication and swallowing difficulties. Therapists at the Voice and Swallowing Stations fielded many enquiries and gave away free goodies bags. Meanwhile, those who answered a quiz correctly at the Speech and Communication Station won prizes. To our colleagues from Speech Therapy, you did a great job!
World COPD Day
World Diabetes Day
On 14 November 2012, we celebrated World COPD Day by holding various activities at the AH main lobby (COPD stands for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Our allied health professionals were on hand to administer free lung function tests (spirometry) and dish out smoking cessation tips, dietary advice and some exercise techniques to visitors. Originally targeted at smokers and those over 40 years old, we extended the invitation to staff, people subjected to second-hand smoke and those with a family history of lung cancer. Visitors who had suboptimal or abnormal spirometry results were contacted for a follow-up consultation. To our Allied Health colleagues, thank you for manning the various stations and dishing out valuable advice!
In conjunction with World Diabetes Day, Clinic A organised a Diabetes-Step Out day on 3 November 2012 to promote exercise as part of diabetic care, foster good support among patients and their families or caregivers, and increase awareness of diabetes among staff and the general public. Participants first went for a walk at Labrador Park accompanied by nurses and physiotherapists. Blood sugar monitoring was conducted before and after the walk to show the benefits of exercise for diabetic patients. The 45-minute workshop was a highly engaging session with participants sharing their ways of coping with their condition. At the public forum, Dr Kurumbian Chandran, Consultant/Director, Medicine; Dr Michael Yong, Consultant/Director, Medicine and; Ms Lee Lin Fong, Dietitian, Dietetics & Nutrition, discussed with the audience topics such as diabetic medication, promoting good mental health, and eating right as a way of controlling diabetes. The event was so well-received that participants said they looked forward to the event again next year!
MUSINGS
“It’s Time To Party!” is our way of saying “thanks” for all the hard work
We were wowed by Service Operations’ and Specialist Outpatient Clinics’ masquerade party.
Major Operating Theatre was the first to kickstart the series of celebrations by holding a nurses graduation ceremony/ year-end party. Did you know that Operations Support Services went with a cowboy theme this year? Yee har!
What better way to kickstart the new year than with a Jail House Rock party organised by the Emergency Medicine Department?
To celebrate a year of milestones, CEO held a party and thanked everyone for being part of the team.
Staff of Jurong Medical Centre walked away with very attractive prizes on Christmas eve!
Nursing Administration’s party at the Seminar Room got everyone involved in a treasure hunt.
Staff from the Intensive Care Medicine Department held a staff appreciation dinner.