Speech by Minister for Health, Mr Gan Kim Yong, at the Opening Ceremony of the SingHealth Surgical Congress 2015, 24 October 2015

Professor Ivy Ng,

Group CEO of SingHealth,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen

1.            It is my great pleasure to join you this morning at the opening ceremony of the SingHealth Surgical Congress 2015.

2.            I am heartened to see local and overseas practitioners and industry partners coming together to exchange ideas, share best practices, and discuss the latest technological advancements in surgery.

3.            In the last decade, advances in surgical techniques and the advent of new devices have transformed the way surgery is performed.  Continual innovations in minimally invasive surgery, for example, have enabled surgeons to perform highly delicate and complex procedures that were previously difficult or impossible using traditional methods. The benefits to patients are well documented – they experience less pain, less surgical complications, recover much faster and have shorter hospital stays.

New Models of Care

4.            While we continue to pursue surgical innovation, we must not forget the equally important and pressing need to develop new models of care to complement these technological advances. The SingHealth Duke-NUS Head and Neck Centre is one such example.

5.            This one-stop integrated care facility has enabled our patients undergoing surgery to receive timely and holistic care for their cancer and other related conditions, such as anxiety, loss of speech, swallowing difficulties and disfigurement, from different specialists all on the same day. The Centre also has a pre-operative allied health clinic where allied health professionals will assess patients with complex conditions before their surgery to plan and prepare for their subsequent rehabilitative and psychosocial needs. Such a patient-centric approach is a significant and welcomed improvement from the traditional approach, where medical teams focused on specific conditions and treatment prescription.

6.            Building on the success of this patient-centric model of care, the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre has established similar one-stop centres for diseases of the breast and lung, as well as diabetes. I am pleased to hear that more of such centres will be set up over the next two years.

Furthering Research in Plastic Surgery and Regenerative Medicine

7.            The academic medicine partnership between SingHealth and Duke-NUS is shaping the way complex care is delivered to our patients. Beyond clinical care, the Academic Medical Centre is making strong headway in research. It also gives recognition to outstanding clinicians and researchers, who have demonstrated academic leadership and made significant contributions to our research work.

8.            This morning, I am very pleased to announce that the Lee Seng Teik and Lee Hoo Leng Professorship in Plastic Surgery and Regenerative Medicine, that was established with a philanthropic gift last year, has been awarded to Professor Yann Barrandon.  Prof Barrandon is a joint professor of the Stem Cell Dynamics at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) and Lausanne University, he heads the Department of Experimental Surgery at the Lausanne University Hospital, and is also a consultant with the Institute of Medical Biology at A*STAR, where he directs the laboratory of Stem Cell Dynamics Singapore, a collaborative lab between A*STAR and EPFL (Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne).

9.            Prof Barrandon is no stranger to Singapore. In 1991, he was invited by the Ministry of Health, as a visiting expert to develop skin culture expertise at the Singapore General Hospital’s Burns Centre. Prof Barrandon has continued to visit the SGH lab regularly over the last 20 years. He also helped to facilitate the training of our scientists in Paris and Lausanne. Today, the skin grafts generated from the lab, using Prof Barrandon’s technique, has helped many burn victims in Singapore and the region.

10.         The Professorship recognises Prof Barandon as an outstanding clinician, researcher, educator and pioneer in advancing the frontiers of translational skin research and regenerative medicine.  

Developing Capability in Surgical Teams   

11.         Medical research and education are important drivers for the advancement and improvement of patient care. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate SingHealth on the official opening of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Surgical Skills and Simulation Centre. Strategically located in the Academia, the Centre also brings together procedural-based and team-based skills training across 20 specialties and subspecialties, which would otherwise have been provided separately by the different SingHealth institutions and departments.

12.         With its rich legacy in healthcare education, and strong clinical and education partners such as the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Singapore University of Technology and Design, I am confident that we can look forward to more exciting developments from SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre.

Conclusion

13.         On that note, let me now declare the 2^nd SingHealth Surgical Congress open. I wish all of you a fruitful and fulfilling experience at the Congress.

Thank you.