Our people are the most important part of NHG. Even as we continuously endeavour to grow and develop our workforce, we are committed to improving the well-being of all staff, creating a Happier, Healthier NHG Family to serve our population well.
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iConnect@NHG, a cloud-based platform developed using SAP SuccessFactors, was launched in April 2023, enabling some 22,000 staff across NHG to perform Human Resource (HR) tasks, such as medical, transport, leave, and other work-related claims, anywhere and at any time. The implementation of iConnect@NHG was done in partnership with Synapxe, SAP, and IBM, which ensured the process was carried out smoothly and effectively, with minimal disruptions.
Designed to make HR transactions convenient for staff by providing a user-friendly interface that is easily accessed via mobile devices, iConnect@ NHG improves staff efficiency and experience, and supports Healthier SG, which may require staff to be deployed into the community.
The success of iConnect@ NHG is a significant milestone for NHG, as it demonstrates the organisation’s commitment to innovation and digital transformation. This new platform will enhance staff productivity and satisfaction, allowing our people to focus on their core responsibilities, resulting in better patient care.
In February 2022, the NHG Allied Health Career Framework Committee was formed to develop the NHG Allied Health Professional (AHP) Career Development Framework. The framework strives to provide clearer articulation of the attributes and contributions of AHPs and AHP support staff, in order to promote professional development planning, evaluation, and career progression. Key highlights include the inclusion of four core pillars with 11 aspects of allied health professional practice into the framework and enhanced role of Therapist Assistants, empowering them to embark on a wider range of career paths and opportunities.
As part of the on-going Ministry of Health’s (MOH) Jobs, Skills and Training initiative, job redesign efforts were also undertaken for our support care staff (SCS). The aim is to enhance their career value proposition, creating opportunities for SCS to directly contribute and support in multidisciplinary patient care. This involves redesigning roles to encompass both administrative and clinical tasks, thus bolstering staff’s potential for better and lifelong career advancement.
The NHG Nursing Council implemented an initiative in August 2023 that refrains from the rostering of nurses’ work schedules based on a PAPA work-shift pattern. Nurses are conventionally scheduled on a PAPA work-shift pattern for the manning and provision of our 24-hour healthcare system. Where ‘AM’ and ‘PM’ denotes ‘morning’ and ‘afternoon’, respectively, PAPA is an acronym to describe an ‘afternoon-morning-afternoon-morning’ work-shift pattern over four consecutive days. The initiative is based on the outcomes of a 2022 pilot in an inpatient unit of Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) that did away with the PAPA workshift pattern. Results showed no negative impact on manpower manning of healthcare system on-site. The roll-out of the initiative provides more opportunities for nurses to have sufficient rest time, as well as alleviates the stresses of an increasingly challenging clinical environment. Ultimately, this would contribute to better work-life harmony.
In FY2022, learning from the successful experience of the Nursing & Human Resources (HR) team at Woodlands Health (WH), NHG Group Nursing and Group HR co-organised a NHG Centralised Recruitment Approach (NHG CRA) in Malaysia by establishing constructive relationships with nursing colleges and universities in the country. NHG provided nursing students from Malaysia with employment opportunities at NHG Institutions upon their graduation, via direct engagement through virtual learning camps, webinars, and NHG Nursing Townhalls. As of March 2023, 230 Malaysian nursing students have indicated their interest in joining NHG Institutions upon their graduation between 2023 to 2027.
In March 2023, more than 520 guests including NHG Board Members, Senior Management, and staff, attended the NHGHQ FY2022 Dinner and Dance (D&D). This D&D was the first where all guests could mingle and celebrate in-person after more than three years of battling the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NHG Nursing Internship workgroup was formed in January 2023 to work on initiatives that address issues relating to the recruitment of nurses and their transition to practice in their first year at NHG. For a start, the workgroup convened the NHG Nursing Student Council, a platform that provides a collaborative space for nursing students sponsored by NHG Institutions to contribute to the development of their nursing education and experience across the cluster. The workgroup has reached out to more than 10 secondary schools and junior colleges. NHG Group Nursing would also host the first NHG Nursing Open House in 2024 to engage students planning to further their studies at ITE, polytechnics or universities, with the aim of drawing them to NHG to build their nursing career.
The NHG Bonding Activities (NBA) serves to foster staff bonding, inter-organisational relations, and a collaborative culture among NHG Institutions. In FY2022, the NBA organising committee co-organised three events with NHGHQ and Institutions, namely “Stronger Together” Night Cycling, Walk • Run • Cycle Movement, and candle-making workshops. A total of 1,500 NHG staff across the cluster, and their families, participated in the activities and the feedback received on these was very positive overall.
NHG held its Charity Carnival in January 2023, after a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The fun occasion saw some 250 Senior Management and staff coming together to raise funds for the local charity, Free Food For All (FFFA). Themed ‘Rejuvenating Reunions’, the Carnival featured 16 stalls, including games such as ring toss and capteh; a pop-up café named Quali (Tea) & Coffee; a cotton candy bar; homemade popiah; and Chinese calligraphy. National Healthcare Group Pharmacy (NHGPh) won the Top Fundraiser Award for its ‘Pharmily Store’ booth, while NHG Group Research won the Most Popular and Best Decorated Booth for its ‘Down the Memory Lane’ stall. The Carnival raised about $15,000, which was matched with a $10,000 donation from NHG.
The Staff Well-being Committee (SWC) Co-Funding Scheme continues to drive pioneering initiatives towards better staff mental health and wellness, to create a happier and more engaged workforce in NHG.
The beneficiaries of the second SWC Co-funding Scheme, launched in FY2022, were Yishun Health, Institute of Mental Health (IMH), National Skin Centre (NSC), and NHGHQ, who demonstrated dedication towards building a thriving and resilient NHG community.
Yishun Health’s “Spice Up Your Mental Health” initiative promoted staff camaraderie and bonding through healthy cooking activities, while IMH piloted an “External Online Counselling Service”, an anonymous hotline to assist employees in need. NSC organised a “Mental Well-being Week”, in collaboration with the Health Promotion Board (HPB) and Singapore Association of the Visually Handicapped, which fostered staff engagement through fun and relaxing activities. NHGHQ initiated the “Mental Wellness Initiative” to equip employees with useful tools to seek help and support for mental health matters.
At NHG, we take a zero-tolerance stance on all forms of abuse and harassment of staff. Our commitment towards fostering a safe and respectful work environment is embodied through a series of purposeful initiatives, and by harmonising policies and practices across all NHG Institutions. By doing so, we ensure consistency and clarity in addressing staff concerns, and provide a supportive culture for incident reporting.
We have standardised reporting channels and escalation protocols, making it easier for individuals to voice their concerns. We have refined our framework to better manage staff grievances and escalation processes, prioritising confidentiality and clear consequence implementation. We equip our staff by investing in training and development, to enable them to protect themselves against potential abusive situations. Looking ahead, NHG will adopt a standardised zero-tolerance policy towards the abuse and harassment of healthcare workers in any form using the Protect, Prevent, and Promote framework.
Through regular Employee Climate Surveys, NHG seeks to hear, understand, and empathise with our employees’ needs, preferences, challenges, and concerns regarding their roles, work environment, and work relations. In view of employees’ increasing need to have time for improved well-being and self-care, wellness days and birthday off-in-lieu were introduced, among other initiatives.
Launched in February 2023, NHG United is a ground-up movement led by NHG Resident Council to encourage a culture of appreciation and to build a community of CARE (Compassion, Appreciation, Respect, and Equality) across the cluster. These acts of appreciation are shown through the sending of special WhatsApp stickers (‘Thumbs Up’) and NHG United e-cards (‘Kudos’), as well as profiling members of the NHG community on NHG Education’s social media platforms (‘Humans of NHG’).
The NHG Awards took place in October 2022, where a total of 132 awards, comprising 113 individuals and 19 teams, was given out to recognise impactful contributions in the areas of clinical, operations, education, and research. A one-off award, NHG Team Recognition Award for COVID-19, was also bestowed to 13 teams that provided significant support and contributions to NHG’s collective response to the crisis.
Mr Tan Tee How, Chairman, NHG Board, graced the event as Guest-of-Honour and presented the most prestigious award, Lee Foundation — NHG Lifetime Achievement Award, to Associate Professor Ponnudurai Kuperan, Emeritus Consultant, TTSH, and Dr Chan Wai Lim William, Senior Consultant, TTSH.
In an annual study conducted by The Straits Times, NHG ranked 75th among the top 250 employers in Singapore. In this study, Statista conducted anonymous surveys and online access panels to gather recommendations and evaluations from 17,000 employees about their employers. Employees were asked to score their willingness to recommend their employers to friends and family, as well as measure other metrics such as salary, work-life balance, potential for development, work environment, and reputation of their employer.
In another annual survey conducted by local graduate recruitment portal, gradsingapore, NHG ranked 48th among the top 100 organisations desired as employers in Singapore. The survey involved more than 11,500 respondents from local universities and colleges. Employers were evaluated based on respondents’ job applications to employers upon graduation, and the driving factors in the search for their first jobs. These factors included job-hunting attitudes, career resilience, and career expectations, as well as ethics and reputation.
Faculty, partners, and staff of NHG College celebrated its 20th Anniversary in December 2022. Since its inception, NHG College has developed and introduced various capability-building initiatives and programmes to support NHG’s key focus areas of leadership development, education and faculty development, and continuing professional development for our healthcare professionals. In FY2022, 2,612 participants attended 85 programmes offered by NHG College.
Associate Professor Lim Poh Lian, Senior Consultant, Department of Infectious Diseases; Head, Travellers’ Health and Vaccination Clinic, TTSH, and Director, High Level Isolation Unit, NCID.
Community Health Assessment Team (CHAT), IMH.
Group Quality launched the Good Catch Award at the cluster level in March 2023. A “good catch” is defined the timely detection of unsafe acts that breaks the chain of events that could otherwise have led to harm or death. The Good Catch Award empowers staff to make care safer and better by encouraging them to proactively identify and prevent potential errors. This in turn nurtures a culture of continuous and collective learning, with Awardees being recognised at the annual NHG Quality Day.
Dr Hoi Shu Yin, Chief Nurse, TTSH, won the President’s Award For Nurses 2023!
NHG and our Institutions clinched 10 awards across multiple channels at APEX 2023, the 35th annual US-based awards programme that recognises excellence in publishing. APEX received some 1,100 entries in 2023 from professional communicators worldwide.
NHG’s print and digital publications, videos, and webinars continue to serve as channels for public education on health matters. They also provide insights into NHG’s vision of Adding Years of Healthy Life, and the innovation, collaboration, and developments happening across our Institutions as we move towards a Healthier SG.
NHG Healthy & Delicious Quick-to-Prepare
Recipes – NHG and NHGP
Lifewise Issue 93
Reforming Health, Reimaging Nursing – NHG
Better Health for Our Population
NHG Walk • Run • Cycle Movement
NHG Corporate Yearbook FY2021