YEAR IN
REVIEW
2013 A year of passion, commitment and success in care.
Over 170,000 treated at Emergency Department
Over 71,000 Surgical Procedures
More than
56,000 Admissions Over 665,000 treated at our Specialist Outpatient Clinics
More than 434,000 Therapy Sessions More than 4.5m Laboratory Investigations More than 432,000 Radiological Investigations
BETTER “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness and a deep long concern.”- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross APRIL
MAY
Healthcare Humanity Award • Chan Lai Gwen, Associate Consultant • Lee Cheng Chuan, Senior Consultant • Chan Yeow, Senior Consultant • Low Peck Sian, Nurse Manager • Naw Hser Bwe, Senior Staff Nurse • Tan Chuen Yeow Derrick, Nurse Clinician • Jeya Ranee D/O Vannithamby, Senior Staff Nurse • Tan Ah Lak, Senior Assistant Nurse
Singapore Kindness Movement: I appreciate you! - 40 students from North View Primary School gave our staff lovely handwritten “Thank You” cards as a gesture of appreciation for their dedication and passion to serve our patients.
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JUNE
New journey for PSAs - A re-designed career pathway for PSAs which offers more opportunities for career progression was announced at the launch of the Inaugural PSA Day. The event which paid tribute to our PSAs for their contributions and dedication to patient care also saw the unveiling of the new PSA Uniforms.
JULY
MOH Nurses Merit Award • Adeline Tang Lai San • Chan Siew Goon • Chen Li • Chen Yang Yuang • Fu Qixin • Goo Lay Kian Joyce • Loh Sok Hiang • Naw Nyo Nyo Win • Sabariah Bte Abdul Radzi Practising the Profession - The first ever Nursing Commemorative Book was launched today! Titled “Practising the Profession”, the book weaves together the diverse and colourful life experiences of our nurses.
AUGUST
National Day Award - 61 Winners
President’s Award for Nurses - Advanced Practice Nurse in Geriatrics, Ms Jasmine Kang becomes the youngest winner in history to be honoured the highest accolade for Nurses. Jasmine was recognised for her immense contributions to nursing and Geriatric Care in particular.
Flying forward for charity - Over 500 students from 10 different schools set a Singapore Record by successfully folding 24,000 paper butterflies in an hour. Together with Team Flight Forward from NUS High School and the Ci Yuan Community Centre, the students helped to fold the butterflies and raise funds for TTSH Community Charity Fund.
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SEPTEMBER
Cycling for Charity - More than 80 participants took part in the TTSH Charity Ride on 21-22 September. Battling the blistering heat, our cyclists raised more than $400,000 for our needy patients!
Giving up job to cycle for charity Ms Joyce Leong, 57, retired at the age of 35 to start her own cycling committee that helps raise funds for charity. Since then she has been cycling for charity and in 2013 participated in our TTSH Charity Ride in Bintan.
The next generation - We welcomed our first batch of 54 students from Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine. Throughout their week long attachment at the hospital, they took part in observational studies, site visits and department activities. The school started its first academic year on 5 August 2013.
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER
Patient Care Centre Charity Dinner Former President, Mr S. R. Nathan auctioned off a mould of his hand during the dinner in a bid to raise funds for our patients living with HIV. Themed “Embrace - The Gift of Life�, the Charity Dinner raised about $300,000 in funds to aid its programmes for HIV/ AIDS patients.
Inaugural Value Festival - Our first Value Festival brought together various efforts to co-create a Great Place for Working, Healing, Learning and Becoming the Best. Our staff, came together to share their insights on working together to build a collective value for our patients and fellow colleagues.
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OCTOBER NHG Distinguished Achievement Award 1. Clinical Prof Leo Yee Sin, Director, Institute of Infectious Disease & Epidemiology, Clinical Director, Communicable Disease Centre, and Senior Consultant, Dept of Infectious Disease 2. Dr Ang Sze Peng Brenda, Senior Consultant, Dept of Infectious Disease, and Deputy Clinical Director, Communicable Disease Centre Promising Social Worker Award Ms Carmen Wu, Senior Medical Social Worker
NHG Outstanding Citizenship Award 1. A/Prof Kwek Tong Kiat, Head of Department and Senior Consultant, Anaesthesiology, Intensive Care and Pain Medicine, ACMB (Special Projects) & Clinical Director, office of Clinical Informatics. 2. Dr Tan Thai Lian, Head of Department and Senior Consultant, Geriatric Medicine 3. Mdm Leong Yoke Yin, Deputy Director, Nursing Service 4. Mr Ow Chung Kin, Senior Manager, Diagnostic Radiology
NOVEMBER Tan Chin Tuan Nursing Award for Enrolled Nurses - Ms Wilma Krishnan
DECEMBER The Gift of Giving - To commemorate World AIDS Day, our HIV patients wanted to play a part and give back to the community. Teaming up with the Singapore Association of Mental Health (SAMH), they spent over two months making beautifully hand-made handicrafts to be sold at the Atrium in a fundraising drive. All proceeds from the sales were then donated to SAMH. Giving starts from within the organisation - In conjunction with International Volunteer Day on 5th Dec, TTSH celebrated the month of December with heartwarming and inspirational stories of our colleagues going the extra mile and doing their part to help the less fortunate. Read more of their stories at our facebook page: https://www. facebook.com/TanTockSengHospital/notes
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BETTER “It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.” - Mahatma Gandhi MARCH Hocoma AG MOU - First signed in 2010, we are proud to renew our partnership with Hocoma AG once again! Signed on 1 March 2013, the renewed MOU will see both organizations charting new territories with the use of innovative rehabilitation technologies in Asia Pacific.
Strengthening partnerships for a better tomorrow - TTSH and SATA CommHealth renews MOU for the Directly Observed Therapy programme - which encourages TB patients to complete their medications within the stipulated period. This ensures they do not develop a resistance to the medication and succumb to a relapse.
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APRIL Practice makes perfect - Ophthalmology residents at TTSH can now practise their skill in performing cataract surgery using a surgical simulator. The Eyesi Ophthalmic Surgical Simulator allows the novice surgeons to practise surgical procedures without putting patients at risk during training.
CARING IN A “HOSPITAL WITHOUT WALLS� The Virtual Hospital (VH) - A new model of care in collaboration with community partners that provides post-discharge medical and social support for patients who are frail, and are susceptible to hospital re-admissions - all within the comforts of their homes. PS21 Excel Awards - Our VH team was awarded the Certificate of Recognition for Most Innovative Project at the PS21 ExCel Awards for their innovation and contributions.
JUNE Enhancing preparedness - 2013 saw the highest number of dengue cases in Singapore history. Our doctors worked tirelessly to round-the-clock contain and treat the outbreak. The IIDE also inked an MOU with SP to enhance infectious disease research collaborations. This collaboration would potentially help to improve patients’ quality of care and also help to train the next generation of Infectious Disease researchers for the healthcare industry.
JULY eWound Clinical Decision Support Syatem - First in Asia providing one-stop reference for nurses to treat wounds quickly and effectively.
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TOWARDS A WELL-ROUNDED HEALTHCARE AUGUST Healthcare Development of the Future Health City Novena Master Plan: integrating recreation, education, care and community Conferred Gold Award for Excellence in Master Planning. Inaugural Health City Day - We kick started our first Health City Day with a warm-up exercise and embarked on the Health City Day Walkathon which took participants around the perimeters of the future Health City. New Foot Care and Limb Design Centre Making mobility a reality for patients.
SEPTEMBER Scarless Removal of cancer cells - TTSH introduced a new method that removes cancer cells without scarring. This new endoscopic submucosal dissection method is used for patients with very early stage cancer and to remove polyps in the intestines that can lead to colon cancer. Healthy Eating - TTSH’s Cookbook “Herbs for Health, Food for Life” was officially launched on 28 September. The bilingual cookbook promotes a healthier diet through its featured 18 recipes from appetizers to desserts.
OCTOBER Stable Eye Condition Clinic - The new clinic introduces a new structure of care whereby optometrists, under the supervision of eye specialists, will treat patients with less serious conditions like dry eyes, and early stage cataract. This aims to make eye treatment more affordable and to allow eye surgeons more time to attend to more serious cases.
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OCTOBER
Better Palliative Care - “The Bedside Palliative Medicine Handbook� was launched in conjunction with the World Hospice & Palliative Care Day 2013. The handbook, a first of its kind in Singapore, aims to promote good palliative care from an Asian perspective. First Singapore Patient Conference - a new platform for healthcare staff and patients to share their thoughts and experiences and to offer perspectives on how we can better connect to create a better patient experience.
OCTOBER Engaging the voices of patients: CareConnect, a new one-stop information hub for patients and caregivers opened on 26 Oct 2013. The facility, helmed by the CareConnect Volunteer Committee, serves as a bridge between the hospital and its patients, engaging patients and enhancing patient experience.
NOVEMBER Opening of New Invasive Cardiac Laboratory - The new ICL officially opened on 14 November 2013. Located on the third floor of the Emergency Department, critically ill cardiac patients can now be transferred more quickly to ICL to gain faster access to medical help and life-saving interventions.
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CELEBRATING “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.� - Harriet Tubman
JANUARY
MARCH
Bouncing back from stroke to set up a fund for others - Stroke patient, Mr Au Yong Haw Yee, 30, sets up the RACHEL (Rehabilitation Assistance to Cure, Heal, and Enable Lives) Fund to help other stroke patients pay for robotic therapy and regain their independence.
Unsung Heroes behind the epidemic - 20 March marked the 10th Anniversary of the SARS epidemic. We pay tribute to our colleagues who courageously battled SARS, and revisit their stories and lessons learnt during this dark period. We also launched the SARS Commemorative Book.
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APRIL
AUGUST
AON Hewitt Best Employers 2013 TTSH is the first healthcare organization to be recognized with this honour.
From patient to inspiration - Ms Rita Tan, a patient volunteer with the TTSH Colon Cancer Support Group was awarded the NHG-Exemplary Patient Award 2013 on 27th August. A former colon cancer patient, Rita has been selflessly committed to helping colon cancer patients accept their health condition and sharing with them her personal experiences.
MAY
Walking for a good course Ms Tan Chew Wah, Deputy Director of the Medical Education Office at TTSH, completed a solo, 35-day, 800-kilometre trek in El Camino de Santiago — a journey towards northern Spain where the remains of apostle St James are said to be buried. A coronary bypass patient, she raised S$22,450 for heart patients under the CCF.
Pathway to Excellence Award - TTSH becomes the first hospital beyond the US to be conferred for demonstrating innovation and technology to create a positive nurse practice environment.
SEPTEMBER
OCTOBER TTSH Smart Sense System - A new technique that uses Radio Frequency Identification tags to record patients vitals and temperatures in real time. for its innovation to improve patient care, the Smart Sense System was conferred to Asia Pacific HIMSS Elsevier Award.
NOVEMBER
Asian Hospital Management Award Clinic 2B clinched the Excellence Award for their Customer Service Project “Service Excellence through LEAN in multidisciplinary surgical clinic�.
Overcoming the odds, Living the dream Mr Abdul Alim, 38, lost his lower-right leg in a road accident but that did not stop him from achieving his dreams of sporting excellence. After being fitted with his Prosthesis, Alim has since gone on to complete several sporting feats including becoming the first amputee cyclist in Asia.
The Service Excellence Workforce Skills Qualification (WSQ) Recognition Award 2013 - TTSH was recognized as a role-model organisation for adopting a holistic service training approach for our staff across three years (2011-2013).
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