Being a Regional Health System (RHS) has redefined the way we
provide patient care and collaborate with our partners and stakeholders. We
emphasise on person-centred care as we move to make healthcare
safe, reliable and seamless for our patients. What this means is care from the
patient’s perspective instead of the provider’s.
While we are the RHS for the Central Region of Singapore, our care reaches out island-wide. Some of our polyclinics, for
instance,
are located in the North. Our two national specialty centres – the Institute of Mental
Health and National Skin Centre – also serve patients from all over Singapore.
With
Singapore’s rapidly ageing population and more people developing chronic
diseases, the old hospital-centric model of care is no longer sustainable. We
need to – and must – work with our partners and stakeholders in the primary,
acute and step-down care sectors.
Likewise,
a doctor-centric service must give way to a multi-disciplinary approach to
enhance chronic disease management and improve population health. Now nurses,
allied health professionals and others will certainly have more important roles
to play as we shift towards team-based care.
Beyond
the hospital walls, team-based care is also about collaborating with our RHS
alliance partners – who include primary care providers, community hospitals,
nursing homes, home care providers, hospices and other social service providers
– to provide care for the community.