Life@SGH Campus Issue 1

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september/october 2012 MICA (P) 158/04/2012

at H SG mpus Ca

Once more, with feeling

Returning nurses share their stories

What did we do all year?

How do you feel about SGH?

SGH in FY 2011

Results of the Employee Engagement Survey

速

LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

what did we do all year?

A review of 2011, another busy year for SGH

bench press

Coffee, cancer and champagne – campus collaboration leads to breakthrough in cancer treatment

class act

A report card on the SingHealth Residency Program after the first two years

04 07 08 10 12 14

how do you feel about SGH? Results of the Employee Engagement Survey

our everything man

Meet Mr Ali, who has spent 52 years on this campus

once more, with feeling

Breaking down silos.

Building teams.

C

ollaborative partnerships.

Conversations. Synergies.

These define the SGH Campus, which with its breadth and depth of services and specialties, provides rich opportunities for staff to work and play together and for patients to enjoy a seamless experience.

Two nurses share why they returned after joining other hospitals

I am pleased to introduce the first issue of Life@SGH Campus, which brings us updates on happenings in the campus, profiles of staff and both the serious and softer side of things. As an Academic Healthcare Cluster, many of our people work closely together, building teams that cut across domains, departments and institutions.

in every issue 16 18 19 23 24

quality pulse spree in action campus buzz your take the last page

contents

Advisor Tan-Huang Shuo Mei Contributors Jasmine Pek, Eunice Han, Rueben Sng, Amy Tan, Vanessa Peters, Tan Yoke Chang, Tan Yeong Horng, Jeffrey Lee. Communications – Jennifer Wee, Carol Ang, Claudia Yeo, Tricia Ang, Goh Sai Luan.

On The Cover Thomas Kwan, Senior Manager, Service Quality

Not only do we work as One Campus, the patients we serve also see us as one. Regardless of whether their appointment is with SGH or our National Specialty Centres, they are likely to say “SGH” to the taxi driver. We must translate this into reality and actual experience when they are here, extending the spirit of generosity by offering assistance to

all patients and help them navigate the campus.

The richness of friendship, teamwork and collegiality that come with working in a large and integrated campus is an important social glue and emotional hook that brings pride to our staff. It is this uniquely SGH Campus advantage that allows us to sink our roots even deeper into our Academic Medicine aspirations, retain and attract talents and transform this campus into one of excellence.

The stories found here are not an end in itself. It is about generating more and newer conversations, while engendering new collaborations.

Together, let us co-create conversations and stories that define Life@SGH Campus.

Prof Ang Chong Lye

Chief Executive Officer, SGH

LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

focus

91%

are satisfied with your jobs, feeling that the jobs you perform are considered important to SGH.

88%

are willing to work beyond what is required of your job to help SGH succeed.

60%

feel that SGH has a climate where staff can challenge the traditional way of doing things, while only 23% do not think so.

90%

support the values for which SGH stands.

How do you feel about SGH?

More than 7,200 of you, or a whopping 95% of SGH staff, responded to the 2012 Employee Engagement survey. Your responses to the 83 questions painted a picture of a highly motivated staff, proud of SGH and the work you do. You feel that you have opportunities to advance your career and that you are working in a safe environment.

Life@SGH Campus offers a snapshot.

92%

identify with our vision, mission and core values.

82%

feel that SGH offers opportunity for professional development and growth.

This rating is higher than that given to other public healthcare institutions.

You were asked to rate SGH in these major areas.

Scores of 70% and higher are considered strong results Favourable Scores in (%) Vision, Mission & Core Values Organisational Image Working Conditions & Occupation Employee Engagement Work Organisation Customer Focus Direct Supervision Performance Appraisal Working Relationships Management Job Satisfaction Communication Career Advancement Quality Improvement Training Improvement Innovation SGH Supplement Items Work-Life Harmony Rewards & Recognition

88 88 87 83 81 80 79 78 77 76 76 75 75 75 68 68 67 66 52 20

40

60

80

92%

f eel that SGH is highly regarded for the quality of its healthcare services. More of you registered your pride in SGH, compared with staff of other public healthcare institutions.

90%

agree that corrective action is usually taken when unsafe conditions or occupational hazards are brought to management’s attention.

92%

agree that you have the necessary tools and resources to do an effective job.

4

How did SGH fare in your eyes?

85%

feel that SGH does an excellent job of keeping you informed about matters affecting you.

75%

think that SGH provides adequate family-friendly initiatives, while 10% think that there is room for improvement.

64%

feel that SGH will continue to change for the better.

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

up close

focus

I was very proud when SGH gave me a certificate a few years ago – for good service!

(Continued from page 4)

Employee Engagement Survey results What keeps you here?

Top 3 reasons (tied)  Better career development/

training opportunities  Better pay and benefits  Job security

TOP REASONs FOR EACH PROFESSIONAL GROUP Each professional group gave different reasons for staying. For the doctors, it was the nature of the work (challenging, specialty). The nurses and allied health professionals cited better career development and training opportunities as their top reasons for being with SGH. For administrators, job security was their top priority.

What do you think of the leadership?

Given scales describing opposite extremes of different styles of management, you described the leadership as more:

 Decisive (vs Indecisive)  Open (vs Secretive)  Consistent (vs Inconsistent)  Bureaucratic (vs Entrepreneurial)  People-oriented (vs Task-oriented)

Better than global best

Compared with staff of leading global companies, such as pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and Royal Bank of Canada, you rated your employer better in the areas of:

 Training and Development  Career Advancement  Communication  Rewards and Recognition

What’s next?

Department heads and managers will share the department/division reports with you. The report will tell you the strengths and areas of concerns at the local level. With this, you have to decide on what can be done to address specific areas that can be improved on.

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Mr and Mrs Ali, institutions in their own right.

Our everything man M

r Lyakkathaly (“Mr Ali”) calls out to everyone who walks by his mamak stall at the National Heart Centre – “How may I help you?”, “Good evening!” In return, staff greet him and his wife with a cheery “Hi, uncle!” or “Bye, auntie”. After 52 years, Mr Ali is not just another retailer on this Campus.

Q. Why are you called the “everything man”?

A. Besides selling snacks and

magazines, I am also a courier and a money changer. It started because SGH staff asked me for help. For example, I deliver medication to patients’ homes by bus. Sometimes, the Business Office calls me when there are foreign patients who want to pay with foreign currencies. In the past, I would queue up at embassies or government offices to help foreign patients extend their travel documents, but now these matters can be done online. With my wife helping to man the stall, I am always just a phone call away.

Q. How long have you been on this Campus?

A. I was 11 years old when I started

working at the sundry shop here in 1960. It was then in Bowyer Block, under the staircase. Over the years, the shop moved from Norris Block (present-day Health Promotion Board), to SGH Blocks 3, 4 and 5. I moved to the National Heart Centre in 2006. I took over the shop in the 70s and raised four children with this little business.

Q. What was SGH like in your early years here?

A. My job included delivering

newspapers to the wards. In those days, some wards had up to 60 patients. The medical college and hostel were here too, and the students and staff would play football on one of the fields. I know many of the doctors from the time they were medical students, like Tan Ser Kiat. As long as they studied here, they know Mr. Ali.

Q. Tell us some of your special moments on this campus.

A. I was very proud when SGH gave

me a certificate a few years ago – for good service! [Editor’s note: Mr Ali was presented with the Service with a Heart Award for his outstanding service in 2005.] The opening of the new SGH (the present day complex) in 1981 was very grand too.

During the Sars outbreak, I was the only retailer who stayed open during those few weeks. SGH provided packed meals for its staff and they remembered to include my wife and me.

Q. How have the people here changed?

A. The people now are more polite.

I think it is because everyone has more education. In the past, most people were very afraid when they fell sick. They didn’t know what was happening, so they were always stressed. Doctors now can do more too, with new tests and treatments.

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

feature

Once more, with feeling

Each year, SGH welcomes back staff who have gone to other hospitals. Many of them are nurses who cite leadership, training and career advancement opportunities here as their reasons to return.

Her family is the greatest motivator for SSN Sharon Lee.

I am glad that I left, but I am even happier now that I’ve come back to SGH. Why did you come back?

Variety could not keep Sharon away

S

enior Staff Nurse Sharon Lee returned to the Surgical Intensive Care Unit as an administrator in 2011 after four years in two other hospitals. At the first stop, a private specialist medical centre, she was a clinical auditor taking care of licensing and accreditation, a customer service manager and then a business development manager helping to set up a medical centre overseas. She then joined another public hospital as the operations executive in the surgical division before becoming a clinic manager.

Why did you leave?

My children were then four years old and six months old.

I felt that working regular hours would allow me to spend more time with them. I was offered a job in the heart of Orchard Road. The different job scope (in administration) also promised a fresh change. By then I had been with SGH for nine years.

8

The regular hours became irregular, putting a strain on my family. I have learnt that “office hours” does not mean “regular hours”. That is why I did not ask for office hours when I returned.

What did you learn?

I have grown, learnt and seen things that I would not have known if I hadn’t left. I wouldn’t say the exposure was negative, but at least I got a taste of how some private practices run their business.

How do you see yourself here now?

I am very appreciative that SGH’s management is more organised. I am glad to have been trained here.

My perspective of work has matured, due to my responsibility as a mother of two growing kids. I used to just finish my work and go home and gave no commitment to the hospital. I now see how competent and responsible employees are important to the organisation. Contributing and giving back are now among my priorities. If I am going to contribute, I’d rather give back to SGH. I plan to pursue a Masters degree in Nursing, if given the opportunity.

Siew Huang’s “exchange programme”

T

rained in critical care, Chua Siew Huang (“Priscilla”) was with the Intensive Care Unit and other areas in SGH for 16 years before venturing out. Today, she is a Nurse Clinician (Specialty Care), counselling and helping patients before and after breast or liver surgery.

More time with her son – that’s what NC Chua Siew Huang wants.

I’m a nurse, not a maid.

“I left for six months in 2011 for a private hospital. I like to say that I had simply gone on an exchange programme.

I first thought of leaving because I wanted more time with my son, who is now six years old. Then a headhunter called, and I was tempted by the pay, even though it was not an office-hour position.

I was asked to run a ward as Nurse Clinician and I thought, “It is still about taking care of patients in a hospital, how different could it be?” It turned out to be a huge culture shock.

Things were run very differently. Policies differed from doctor to doctor. I have always been outspoken and could not resist speaking up or making suggestions, trying to share SGH’s best practices. But I was constantly reminded that they were ‘a revenue hospital’, and that ‘customers are always right’.

Once, a patient asked me to drop everything to buy him sushi from a nearby mall. I explained that I could not leave my patients, though I offered to do it during my break. He wrote a letter to the management, referring to my professionalism. But in the business culture there, I was not sure if it was to be taken as a compliment.

When I returned to SGH, my new supervisor, Senior Nurse Clinician Saraswathi, was shocked that I had chalked up so few CNE points while I was away. The company organised CNE courses, but employees had to pay to attend them. Training was not a priority.

This is unlike SGH, which is very proactive in developing staff. If you show potential, they push you to upgrade your skills. SGH also makes the effort to match your interests and needs.

Colleagues here are also very supportive. Even if they cannot help you with your personal problems, they show concern and lend you a listening ear. In the other hospital, there was no sympathy if you needed child care leave or family care leave.

I was so frustrated that I lost three kilogrammes in six months. It made me rethink my priorities, which was not more money, but more time with my son. Sure, it was embarrassing at first when I came back and a few colleagues teased me a little. But now I enjoy sharing my experience with them.

In specialty care, I work office hours. I am grateful to SNC Saraswathi for showing me the ropes and being my mentor.”

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

feature

What did we do all year? SGH in FY 2011 Patient care

FY 2011 was another busy year. We registered an average general bed occupancy rate of 88%, admitting almost 76,000 patients and carried out some 78,000 surgical procedures. We attended to more than 146,000 patients at A&E and had almost 695,000 attendances at our Specialist Outpatient Clinics.

Improving patient care and experience

 Commenced work to upgrade outpatient

269

17%

total 234

allied health 1,354

26%

111

11%

114

doctors 936

Nurses 3,803

 Hosted forum for some 100 general

practitioners to strengthen partnership with primary care physicians.

Bright Vision Hospital

proposed Sengkang General Hospital.

cy2009

Total staff strength*

 Took over management and clinical leadership of

we strived for continual improvement to meet international standards of care.

*SGH-funded staff, excluding those on training leave or no-pay leave.

Amount of competitive national research grants* secured for each calendar year

SGH Campus were announced.

$4.84M $4.73M

78,413 75,949 146,228

698,689 80,797 74,779 144,973

680,740

2011 2010 2009

694,067

cy2010

Cy2011

* Journal Impact Factor

8,189 (as at end March 2011)

Enhancing education and research

 Plans for a community hospital on

patient load

142,236

JIF*>= 2

Developing the continuum of care

 Was appointed by MOH to plan for the

79,184 70,552

228

others 2,096

46%

pharmacies to shorten waiting time.

the visitor registration system, using technology to improve our patient experience.

10

No. of indexed publications

138

 Obtained JCI accreditation for the third time, as

 Expanded our visitors lobbies and automated

More hands on board

 Launched the first six Academic Clinical Programs – Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Paediatrics, Medicine, Surgery, Neuroscience and Ophthalmology – to facilitate research and improve teaching.

 Attained ACGME-I accreditation for the Phase 2 programmes provided by SGH under the SingHealth Residency Program as we continue to enhance our education efforts.

 Graduated the first class of students from the

$3.97M

Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, taking another step towards nurturing clinician scientists and growing our research capabilities.

 Initiated and brought together other hospitals in organising the first Singapore Rehabilitation Conference, thus establishing ourselves as leaders in this field of medicine. The conference drew 542 participants from 15 different countries.

outpatient attendance Surgical procedures Patients admitted A&E attendance

cy2009

Cy2010

Cy2011

* Includes grants from BMRC, BMRC-SERC, SSCC, NMRC, SIgN and MOH only.

 Added University of Illinois, USA to our allied health education network, with an agreement to collaborate on pharmacist training and research.

11

LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

bench press

Campus study solves East Asians resistance to cancer drugs

(From left) Asst Prof Charles Chuah, Dr Darren Lim and Assoc Prof Ong Sin Tiong.

“Research ideas do not come about at huge meetings.

A get-together with a small group of individuals, maybe over coffee, works better.“

A

casual chit-chat session, coffee and friendship are sometimes all that is needed to bring on an Eureka moment. That was the case for the three leading researchers – Assoc Prof Ong Sin Tiong (Duke-NUS), Asst Prof Charles Chuah (SGH) and Dr Darren Lim (NCCS) – in this cancer study (see next page).

Sitting at the café in Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, the three clinician scientists seemed relaxed.

Exchanging friendly banter, they looked different from their usual hurried selves.

“I first heard about (Sin) Tiong from my mentor when I was doing my HMDP in London in 2003. She told me about this very bright person in California she was collaborating with. But she wasn’t sure if Tiong was

12

A

research team led by clinician scientists from SGH Campus discovered why some East Asian patients fail to respond to some of the most successful cancer drugs.

The main culprit is a mutated gene found in about 15 per cent of East Asians, but is non-existent in Europeans or Africans.

Coffee, cancer and champagne Malaysian or Singaporean. (laughs) With our common interest in chronic myelogenous leukaemia, I met him later that year at a scientific meeting in California. In 2006, we had our first collaboration in a clinical study which Tiong chaired when he was still in USA,” shared Asst Prof Chuah.

Five years ago, when Assoc Prof Ong returned to Singapore, he rounded up a huge team, including Asst Prof Chuah and Dr Lim, to embark on the study. Dr Lim shared his expertise and data on non-small cell lung cancer.

Dr Lim agreed that friendship helps foster collaboration. On most occasions, he explained, research ideas or collaborations “do not come about at huge meetings where everyone attends and hopes that interaction happens. Instead, a get-together with a small group

of individuals, maybe over coffee, works better.”

Asst Prof Chuah remembered that it started with a conversation he had with Assoc Prof Ong at Suntec City Convention Centre about a technology that the Genome Institute of Singapore had. And the rest, as they say, is history.

The findings of their study were published in Nature Medicine in March 2012. “To celebrate, we had some cheap champagne from Tiong,” said Asst Prof Chuah. “Drank out of plastic cups!” added Assoc Prof Ong.

With the new understanding, the team was able to come up with a strategy to overcome the drug resistance – by adding a new class of drugs that is currently being used in clinical trials.

“Our next step will be to bring this to clinical trials with patients,” said lead author of the study, Assoc Prof Ong Sin Tiong of the Cancer and Stem Cell Biology Signature Research Programme at Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.

“It is estimated that about 14,000 newly diagnosed East Asian patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia and epidermal growth factor receptor non-small-cell lung cancers per year will carry the gene mutation,” said Assoc Prof Ong. “With the discovery, doctors can help patients with the mutated genes avoid costly, ineffective therapies. We can also devise strategies to overcome drug resistance and to prevent resistance from emerging,” said Asst Prof Charles Chuah, a main collaborator of the study and Senior Consultant, Department of Haematology, SGH.

The Team

The team was led by Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School working with Singapore General Hospital, the National Cancer Centre Singapore and the Genome Institute of Singapore.

Besides Singapore, the 55-man team included members from Japan, Germany and Malaysia.

The Journal

Nature Medicine, a top-ranking research journal, published the study on 18 March 2012.

The Funding

The study was supported by grants from the National Medical Research Council (NMRC) of Singapore and the Biomedical Research Council of government agency A*STAR. Funding also came from SGH, the Genome Institute of Singapore and the two NMRC Clinician Scientist Awards to Assoc Prof Ong and Dr Chuah.

Assoc Prof Ong is working with the Genome Institute of Singapore to develop a clinical test to test for gene mutation in patients.

They will soon be back to drinking more coffee as the study moves into clinical trials with patients. But it may not be long before the sound of popping champagne corks is heard again.

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

class act

SingHealth Residency Program – the first two years We talk to Prof Lim Boon Leng, newly appointed as the Designated Institutional Officer (DIO) for the SingHealth Residency Program about the programme’s ups and downs.

Faculty and Residents turned out in force to welcome new Residents during the recent orientation.

Prof Lim is in the front row, fourth from right.

I

Service – we do it because we know it’s good for the country. Likewise, we know the benefits of the Residency system will outweigh the efforts, so we just did it.

We have many doctors who are very passionate about medical education. Those who remain in public healthcare tend to be those who have a mission. They look at medicine not just as providing patient care but as a calling to teach the next generation of

14

rounds of mock audits and we were able to achieve accreditation six months later. Today, all 13 of our programmes in Phases I and II are accredited.

Q. What are some of the existing challenges?

A. We have to ensure that

Residents and Faculty receive the stipulated protected time for education and research while managing the high patient load.

For example, some of the core competencies training are not part of daily work. Residents have to be given time to attend workshops, lectures and simulated training sessions.

Faculty members also need to take time away from daily work to conduct these trainings.

To achieve protected time means looking into recruitment and retention of doctors to help ease the patient load.

t was uncharted waters when we switched to the US-styled Residency system to train medical school graduates. The switch was part of a national initiative two years ago to revamp the country’s medical education.

At the helm of the programme is Associate Professor Lim Boon Leng, Senior Consultant from the Department of Anaesthesiology, who took over after Professor Colin Song completed his term.

Q. We had less than two years to introduce the new system. How did we do it?

A. It is similar to the way we do National

Simulation training.

Q. What are some of the developments coming up?

A. We are preparing the Phase III

clinicians. This is a major reason why we could launch the new system in such a short time.

Q. Were there times when the going was difficult?

A. The SingHealth Residency Program is still

very young, so there are always obstacles and challenges. What kept us going is the very capable team of people we work with, who openly share and work together to resolve the challenges.

For example, our General Surgery programme failed the first round of ACGME-I audit. Our surgeons rallied together, going through

programmes for Year 3 Residents, comprising 10 medical sub-specialties. We have also started preparing for re-accreditation for our Phase I programmes. These are demanding on our resources.

We are also looking at increasing the use of simulation training. This requires funds for investment in the equipment and technology.

We look forward to the new facilities, such as the dry and wet labs at The Academia. We now also involve colleagues from nursing and allied health for group simulation exercises to increase the realism in our training.

About the SingHealth Residency Program It is a US-styled system to train medical graduates to become specialists. Singapore switched from the British system to this model in 2010. SingHealth, with SGH as its main training site, is one of three Sponsoring Institutions.

How is it different?

It is shorter and more structured than the British system, stipulating protected education time for the Residents. Besides medical knowledge and patient care, the allrounded teaching trains Residents in skills such as communication and teamwork, the practice of evidence-based medicine and research.

Where are we now?

Thirteen of our programmes (in each medical specialty) have achieved accreditation by ACGME-I, which assesses post-graduate medical training programmes outside of the US. For our first class in 2010, we had 63 Residents. We enrolled 192 in 2011 and 230 in 2012.

“I would like to see this grow into a uniquely Singaporean system – where we incorporate strengths from both the British and American models, and bring together the combined resources of all three Sponsoring Institutions into one national system.“ 15

LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

quality pulse

Clear exchange To reduce process time of exchanging loose soiled Central Sterile (CSSD) instruments [Team NEST, Ward 52B]

Eureka!

Making ideas come to life W

Nurses use sterile instruments such as needle holders and scissors for daily procedures such as removing stitches and dressing. Each day, a staff from the Central Sterile Supplies Dept (CSSD) will come to the ward to exchange the used items for sterile ones.

The exchange process was time-consuming and interrupted the nurses’ work. First, the nurse with the key to the drawer holding the collection container had to be found. As the container was opaque, the nurse doing the exchange had to handle the sharps in order to count them, increasing the risk of injury.

hen we take a closer look at problems, many creative ideas can arise. Three teams embarked on their quality improvement projects and came up with simple but effective solutions to make their work processes faster, better and safer for patients and staff.

no mess, no stress

To improve the process of post operation removal of nasal packs for ENT patients [Team UP3, Ward 55A] During nasal surgery, nasal packs are inserted into the patient’s nose to stop bleeding. These will be removed after the operation. The patient will then be asked to gargle into a dish until there is no more active bleeding.

A kidney dish was previously used, but it would fill up quickly and had to be emptied repeatedly. The sight of the bloody fluid was also discomfiting to other patients and visitors. In addition, the fluid could splash out of the shallow dish.

After much evaluation and working with manufacturers and the Biomedical Engineering Department, the team designed a new gargle dish. The new container is bigger and easier to use, making the entire process quicker and cleaner.

The new gargle dish.

16

The modified scrotum support.

Support simplified To reduce pain and discomfort for patients with scrotal swelling

Garnering ideas from mailboxes and toolboxes, the team came up with a clear acrylic box secured with a keyless number lock. The container was also relocated from within the ward to the central nursing station where non-nursing staff can attend to the exchange, freeing the nurses to concentrate on their care duties.

The new container for instrument exchange.

[Team Let’s Support It, Ward 48] Patients with conditions such as cancer or lymphoedema often suffer from scrotum swelling.

This makes it difficult for them to fit into normal underwear and leads to painful abrasion. The pain makes patients reluctant to move around.

Commercially available scrotal support for athletes can aggravate the condition as they are too restrictive and not customised for this group of patients.

Inspired by the mawashi, the sumo wrestler’s belt, the team came up with a modified scrotal support. Using Tubifast® dressing, which is soft and elastic yet able to provide sufficient support, it can also be customised to fit patients of different sizes.

The solution is simple, effective and makes use of easily available materials that ease the patients’ pain and discomfort and improves their quality of life.

Keen to take on your own improvement initiatives? Or just want to know more about these projects and others? Check out QI Net at: www.mysinghealth/SGH/ Quality/QI-Net 17

LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

campus buzz

spree in action

how do i practise efficiency?

Guess who won?

Kids vs …

“I set up a filing system after studying the previous years’ work flow. It is now easier and faster to retrieve documents and records.”

— Kaliselvi Thiagarajan, Clerk IMS

SGH Family had fun I

t was a celebration of the SGH Family when colleagues gathered for a morning of fun at Sentosa on 16 June 2012. More than 2,800 colleagues and their family members turned out for the SGH Family Day.

“I constantly work with my staff and colleagues in Quality Improvement projects to simplify processes and engage in continuous improvement to achieve patient safety.”

— Quek Hwee Koon Susan, Senior Nurse Manager Ward 42

an sgh moment

Prevent, don’t repent

how do i deliver

experience?

“I work very closely with my team to ensure that the recruitment process is smooth and informative for patients keen to take part in our trials.”

— Hlaing Hlaing Win, Research Coordinator Department of Diagnostic Radiology

A

fter observing several near-accidents at Car Park C, Tay Heng Lai from the Bed Management Unit sprang into action.

He snapped photos of the situation and alerted Security.

“There was a blind corner where drivers could not really see the pedestrians. The situation is especially bad during peak hours when there are many vehicles and visitors,” said Heng Lai. Thanks Heng Lai, for putting Safety first and creating an SGH moment!

Dads in action

Family fashion

“I put myself in the other person’s shoes to understand that they come from a different background. I do not use jargon and technical terminology when explaining payment procedures to them.”

— Jaclyn Kee, Executive Business Office

Playball!

“While waiting for the doctor to arrive for any procedure, I allay the patient’s anxiety by explaining the process and the post-procedure care. I try my best to answer their queries.”

— Radha Devi d/o Nadesan SG, SSN Ward 42 Renal Dialysis

“I believe that prevention is better than cure. If I could do something, such as picking up a plastic bag that can cause a person to slip and fall, why hesitate?” — Tay Heng Lai 18

...the youngat-heart.

Dunked!

The hardworking people behind it all.

Young marksman

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

campus buzz

serving singapore

Quality stamp for cell therapy

O

ur Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Programme (HSCTP) has been certified to meet the highest international standards in cellular therapy.

This is our first accreditation by AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks), an association involved in transfusion medicine and cellular therapies.

It prepares us well for proposed MOH regulations on Cell and Tissue Therapy.

What is HSCT

HSCT involves transplanting stems cells derived from bone marrow or cord blood to treat cancers of the blood and other blood disorders. Our programme was set up in 1985. Since then, our Haematology Department has performed more than 1,000 cases of HSCT.

“AABB accreditation is something we have talked about for many years and have struggled towards because of the size of our programme and the many historical issues. This has been a long journey for us and truly a testimony to great teamwork and the hard work of all involved.”

Visibly proud – ADN Siew Bee at the award ceremony at the Istana.

our pride Ms Lian Siew Bee, Assistant Director, Nursing at SGH, won the President’s Award for Nurses 2012.

An oncology-trained Advanced Practice Nurse, she has been instrumental in developing structured training in the care of cancer patients. Siew Bee is an active volunteer in palliative care, helping to train hospice nurses to manage cancer patients in their homes.

She also teaches at the Nanyang Polytechnic and the National University of Singapore, in addition to being involved in research.

Teresa Ng Ruey Pyng, KKH’s Senior Nurse Clinician was also conferred the award.

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— Dr William Hwang, Head of the Haematology Department and Deputy Director of the Tissue & Cell Transplant programme under SingHealth Transplant

SGH Ward at Bright Vision Hospital

A

total of 200 SGH staff received National Day Awards this year for their service to Singapore.

Sally Kong Lee Sook Ling Heading the list is Prof Ng Han Seong, Chairman of Medical Board, who was conferred the Public Administration Medal (Gold).

Five other colleagues were given Commendation Medals:

 Dr Tracy Carol Ayre, Director, Nursing  Dr Camilla Wong, Deputy Director, Allied Health  Ms Tan Geok Eng, Administrator, Bioethics  Ms Sally Kong, Senior Manager, Organ Transplant  Ms Lee Sook Ling, Senior Principal Imaging Technologist In addition, we have 14 Efficiency Medal winners and the other 180 received the Long Service Medal for at least 25 years of service.

The crowd outside the SGH Mortuary, following the 1978 explosion on board the tanker Spyros, which killed 76.

It could happen again Are we ready to handle a mass casualty incident with the surge of patients? SGH was put to the test in Exercise Kingfisher on 7 July 2012. More than 3,000 personnel from SGH and the public agencies were involved in this regular drill conducted by the Ministry of Health.

Besides the Department of Emergency Medicine, Operating Theatres and Intensive Care Units, the wards went through the paces of transferring or discharging existing patients to make room for the casualties. Our Medical Social Workers swung into action providing psycho-emotional support. We also assisted with casualty identification to help the public locate or identify family members.

SingHealth Chairman Peter Seah (The Distinguished Service Order) and former Group CEO Prof Tan Ser Kiat (The Meritorious Service Medal) were also honoured.

For the full list of recipients, go to www.pmo.gov.sg/ content/pmosite/nationaldayawards.html

Public service

I

t is often nerve-wracking for parents when their newborns are admitted into the Neonatal ICU. Principal Enrolled Nurse Toh Siew Pang’s reassuring presence and support has helped put many anxious parents at ease.

She also goes the extra mile for parents who have lost their babies and parents of newborns with abnormalities. She makes follow-up telephone calls to the mothers to offer a listening ear.

She won this year’s PS21 Distinguished Star Service Award for excellence in public service.

We have set up a 56-bed SGH Rehabilitation Ward at Bright Vision Hospital (BVH) in Hougang. Our patients, previously cared for at the SGH Wards at Alexandra Hospital, were all transferred to BVH on 20 May 2012.

The ward at BVH serves SGH patients who require additional rehabilitation by our own care teams before discharge. It boasts a comprehensive rehabilitation gym and advanced rehabilitation technologies to enhance recovery for our patients.

BVH is being managed by SingHealth as the first community hospital in our cluster.

Super Suppamma

Retrenched in 2006 from her job as a production line leader, Mrs Suppamma d/o Kalan started out again at age 47 as a porter in SGH. Over five years, she juggled work and life as a mother of two to complete three courses to upgrade herself, first to Health Care Assistant and then Patient Care Assistant. With her latest WSQ Higher Certificate in HealthCare Support (Nursing Care), she is certified in Basic Cardiac Life Support and is able to do e-charting, put up drips under supervision and assist in preparing trolleys for bone marrow procedures in Ward 72.

For her resilience and continual efforts at upgrading, the national trade union NTUC gave her the May Day Model Partnership Award.

Judy Ong won an individual award.

Good employer

The Singapore Human Resources Institute has named SGH the HR Advocate 2012. We also won awards in three other categories. Ms Judy Ong, Assistant Director of the Learning Centre, was Leading HR Professional. In April 2012, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair Employment Practices named us Exemplary Employer for our fair and inclusive practices.

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campus buzz

Appointed PROF FONG KONG YONG

Group Director, Medical, SingHealth Prof Fong is Chairman, Division of Medicine, SGH and Academic Chair of Academic Clinical Program for Medicine.

Prof Loo Chian Min

Chief Medical Informatics Officer, SingHealth

Prof Loo is Head of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in SGH. He oversaw the roll-out of Nurse Charting, CLMM and CPOE IT systems in SGH in 2010-2011 as co-chairman of the workgroup.

Prof Lim Boon Leng

Designated Institutional Officer (DIO), SingHealth Residency

Prof Lim is Senior Consultant in SGH Anaesthesiology. He had seen to the introduction of residency training to SGH as the Associate DIO for the hospital.

Dr Ling Khoon Lin

Head, Gastroenterology and Hepatology Dept, SGH

Dr Ling is winner of the Clinician Scientist Award in 2009, securing a grant to pursue research into ways to identify patients at high risk of stomach cancer, based on immune cell and protein patterns. Dr Ling is also a faculty member of the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School.

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LIFE at SGH Campus | Sep/Oct 2012

Dr Joseph Wee Tien Seng

CMB, National Cancer Centre Singapore He took over from Dr Vijay Kumar Sethi. Dr Wee was Head of Division of Clinical Trials and Epidemiological Sciences.

Prof Tay Sook Muay

Associate Dean, YLL School of Medicine

Prof Tay, Senior Consultant of Anaesthesiology in SGH, now heads the office for NUS undergraduate medical education on SGH Campus.

She succeeds Prof Ho Lai Yun, Senior Consultant (Neonatal and Developmental Medicine), who stepped down after seven years.

y o ur t a k e “As a photographer, I always try to visit interesting sites from sunset till darkness falls to make images during the Golden Hour (sunset) or Blue Hour (blue skies), such as this one of the famous Kiyomizu shrine.”

Seen on my travels Gion District, Kyoto

— Lawrence Ang, IHiS

Our Pick!

Congratulations Lawrence!

Dr Adrian Ee

Kyoto Marathon

Deputy CEO, SingHealth Polyclinics In this newly created position, Dr Ee will help to manage the nine SingHealth polyclinics while continuing as Director, Clinical Services/Corporate Services.

Mr Michael Wilding

Head, Podiatry Department, SGH

Mr Wilding joins SGH from the UK, where he was Podiatry Manager for the Southwark district in London.

associate PROF celia tan

Kyoto, Japan

“Being a tourist helped. I was not stopped when crouching for low-angle shots or making images in Pachinko halls, crowded eating houses or the train stations.”

“Ganbatte Kudasai! Many of the local folks stayed in the cold streets to cheer us on during the Kyoto Marathon. It was exhilarating running in bright sunshine at 6.5oC.” — Lawrence Ang, IHiS

South Korea

— Lawrence Ang, IHiS

“The trinket sellers were thrilled with the Majulah Singapura shades. Giving away little souvenirs from home is a fun way to make friends.”

— Jessee Chang, Clinic T

Bagan, Myanmar

“This Korean family looked so happy despite the extreme weather – just shows that the secret to happiness lies in our own state of mind!” — Tay Heng Lai, Bed Management Unit

Curtin University

Curtin University in Australia has appointed Dr Celia Tan, Director of SGH Post Graduate Allied Health Institute (PGAHI), as an Adjunct Associate Professor with their Faculty of Health Sciences.

NEXT:

The most important person in my department Send in his/her photo and tell us why. Most interesting entry wins a prize.

Send it to mysgh@sgh.com.sg. Closing date: 14 September 2012

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st a l theage p

Would you quit your job if you win a million dollars today?

SGH staff has a strong work ethic. Your answers show that you believe that work and diligence have benefits beyond monetary rewards.

“Maybe I would work part-time, but I would continue – it’s important to have a purpose in life.”

— Ng Chee Hong, Podiatrist

“Whether I have that big sum of money or not, I will still choose to work. Enjoying my work is important and I like to stay mentally engaged and challenged. I had previously stopped work for about 10 years to care for my daughters when they were young. However, I must add that family still comes first – if one day my family should need me more, I would stop working.”

— Irene Lai, Secretary, Department of Pathology

“Yes, I would quit! It’ll be a chance to be my own boss and start my own business.”

— Joseph Jeffrey Rodriguez, Radiographer

“No. I would be bored to death if I didn’t work!

And maybe become stupid too! For me, it’s important to keep my mind and body active, learn new skills and stay sharp.”

“I wouldn’t think of quitting. I enjoy my work and have many good friends here; friends whom I have known for more than 20 years.”

— Jolyn Chia, Administrative Assistant, Post-Graduate Medical Institute

— Ang Tiong Giap, Asst Manager, Facilities & Plant Engineering

“I am just a few years away from retirement.

If I have that money, I would quit and take a well-deserved rest – I have been here for 38 years. But if I were younger, then no, I would continue working. Work is a way for us to see new things, to learn and to grow.”

“Even if I have a million dollars, I would continue working. I really enjoy my work and interacting with patients. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have taken a course to upgrade myself to be a therapy assistant. I think without work, life will be very boring and dull. I finally had my child after trying for nine years. Even so, I’ve not thought of stopping work to care for my daughter.”

— Loh Lee Kiang, Senior Staff Nurse, Hyperbaric & Diving Medicine Centre

— Sarimah Bte Mohd Alwi, Therapy Assistant with Orthopaedic Team, Physiotherapy Department

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