Left to right: Prof Chin Jing Jih, Chairman Medical Board, TTSH and Central Health; (then) Senior Minister of State for Health Dr Koh Poh Koon; Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong; Tan Tee How, Chairman, NHG; and Prof Eugene Fidelis Soh, Deputy Group CEO (Integrated Care), NHG and CEO, TTSH and Central Health, at the official opening of AMKSC.
In tandem with battling COVID-19, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) continues to forge ahead in transforming care for residents in the Central Region of Singapore. Its strong relationships with health and social partners, culture of continuous learning and innovation, as well as sustained emphasis on collective leadership, have been instrumental in building a ‘Community of Care’ to achieve better population health outcomes for a Healthier SG.
OFFICIAL OPENING OF ANG MO KIO SPECIALIST CENTRE
In March 2022, TTSH officially opened the Ang Mo Kio Specialist Centre (AMKSC), bringing affordable healthcare closer to the community. The event was graced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as Guest-of-Honour. To make healthcare more accessible to residents, AMKSC partnered with General Practitioners (GPs), polyclinics, and community partners to design and develop new services and models of care. These allow patients to seek treatment for specific conditions closer to home, while enabling more timely identification and management of potentially serious issues.
The suite of specialist care and services provided includes:
Transdisciplinary diabetes care
Patients with diabetes are seen by specially-trained Clinical Diabetes Educators (CDE), who provide more holistic diabetes care education and advice, reducing cost and the number of clinic visits for patients while improving compliance and outcomes.
Patients with chronic eye conditions such as blurring of vision, suspected glaucoma, and who require post-cataract surgery follow-up, are reviewed by optometrists, enabling faster access to care near their homes.
Community Hearing EvaluationAudiologists provide basic hearing examinations and hearing aid interventions, which allow more residents to be screened in the community, and facilitate more timely identification and management of hearing-related issues.
Integrated musculoskeletal care servicesPatients from the polyclinics or GPs, presenting with common musculoskeletal conditions, can access timely physiotherapy or occupational therapy services without needing to first see an Orthopaedic or Hand surgeon, thus reducing unnecessary wait time and costs.
The co-location of TTSH’s Community Health Teams with the ambassadors at the Silver Generation Office also helps to establish closer links between health and social care providers, and foster more place-based models of care, active outreach to residents, and closer care coordination among partners and providers in the community.
To help actualise Healthier SG, NHG is developing a place-based ‘Community of Care’ network in the neighbourhoods we operate, to facilitate family doctors and the residents in their health and social care needs. NHG will connect local neighbourhood resources, care partners, and voluntary groups to the residents, so as to better understand their health and social needs, and to provide appropriate and timely care.”
PROFESSOR EUGENE FIDELIS SOHDEPUTY GROUP CEO (INTEGRATED CARE), NHG
& CEO, TAN TOCK SENG HOSPITAL & CENTRAL HEALTH
Left to right: Prof Eugene Fidelis Soh, Deputy Group CEO (Integrated Care), NHG and CEO, TTSH and Central Health; Tan Tee How, Chairman, NHG; Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung; Prof Philip Choo, Group CEO, NHG, and Dr Loh Yong Joo, Head, Rehabilitation Medicine, Integrative & Community Care, TTSH, at the official opening of CART.
‘What Matters to you’ workshop.
OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE CLINIC FOR ADVANCED REHABILITATION THERAPEUTICS
In April 2022, the TTSH Clinic for Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics (CART) celebrated its 10th Anniversary and expanded premises, which was graced by Minister for Health Ong Ye Kung. CART offers conventional therapy equipment and state-of-the-art rehabilitative robots to meet the growing demand for such services, helping patients with stroke, brain, and spinal cord injuries in their recovery journey. With its newly-expanded premises, CART now offers therapy for those with neurodegenerative disorders and patients recovering from multiple serious injuries.
‘WHAT MATTERS TO YOU’ WORKSHOP SERIES
To reach out to partners in the community, TTSH’s Psychology Department collaborated with the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC)’s Silver Generation Division in July 2021 to launch the ‘What Matters to you’ workshop series, which focused on how to conduct meaningful conversations with seniors on their priorities, and engaging them to motivate and influence behavioural change to achieve better health and social outcomes. These workshops used a person-centred approach and leveraged relationship-based care to help seniors lead meaningful and fulfilling lives. Four workshops were conducted for AIC’s Silver Generation Officers (SGOs), and each workshop comprised two half-day sessions. Over 100 SGOs attended the training, and they have since trained other SGOs, and incorporated ‘What Matters’ conversations in the preventive health visits they conduct.
Together with the Centre for Allied Health & Pharmacy Excellence (CAPE), the Psychology Department also conducted four workshops to train TTSH staff from various disciplines, including the Division of Central Health’s Community Health Team, Allied Health, nursing, pharmacists, and medical teams, to incorporate ‘What Matters’ conversations into care encounters.
Carers experience how it feels like to use a walking aid.
Residents in Ang Mo Kio participating in a guerilla research session organised by TTSH’s Centre for Health Activation and Kaizen Office.
Residents in Ang Mo Kio participating in a guerilla research session organised by TTSH’s Centre for Health Activation and Kaizen Office.
POWERING UP PEOPLE, CHARGING UP LIVES
TTSH’s Centre for Health Activation (CHA) launched the CHArge Up! Learning Programme in October 2018 to meet the health needs of neighbourhoods in Central Singapore. The programme aims to empower carers (patients, caregivers, volunteers, and residents) with the health skills, knowledge, and confidence to take charge of their health and, in turn, look after the health of others in the community.
ENGAGING RESIDENTS TO BUILD HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES
In May 2022, CHA and Kaizen Office engaged residents in Ang Mo Kio for guerilla research, the first session in two years since the COVID-19 pandemic. Themed ‘Building Healthier Communities’, the research kick-started a year-long quality improvement project aimed at strengthening the community-enabling programmes, aligned with Healthier SG. Residents were invited to identify and discuss specific factors affecting community health and how the community could help shape the health of each person.