SPEECH BY MR GAN KIM YONG, MINISTER FOR HEALTH, AT THE HCA HOSPICE CARE’S OFFICIAL OPENING OF NEW PREMISES, 10 MAY 2019

Mr Heng Chee How, Member of Parliament, Jalan Besar GRC

Dr Tan Poh Kiang, President, HCA Hospice Care

Ms Angeline Wee, CEO, HCA Hospice Care

Dr Chong Poh Heng, Medical Director, HCA Hospice Care

Dr Ow Chee Chung, CEO, Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital

Ms Margaret Lee, CEO, SingHealth Community Hospitals

Dr Angel Lee, Chairman, Singapore Hospice Council

Ladies and gentlemen,

1.      It is my pleasure to join you today at HCA Hospice Care’s Opening Ceremony at Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital.

2.      One of the great success stories of our modern age is that people are now living longer than before. In Singapore, the average person born in 1960 could expect to live up to 63 years of age. Today, the life expectancy has risen to over 80 years. People are also enjoying more healthy years of living, from 72.9 years in 2010 to 74.2 years in 2017. However, as our population ages, the demand for palliative care services will increase, as more people want to live their last days with dignity.

3.       Good palliative care relieves the suffering and improves the quality of life for patients and their family members by providing holistic care for the patient physically, emotionally, psychologically and spiritually. HCA was founded on a philosophy of treating each person with dignity, respect and compassion, regardless of their race, religious background, financial status or nationality. Today, HCA provides comprehensive home hospice services, including paediatric home palliative care, and day hospice services to people with life-limiting illnesses. The opening of HCA’s new facility at Kwong Wai Shiu Hospital marks yet another milestone for HCA, as they commemorate their 30th year of service to the community.

Improving Accessibility, Quality and Affordability

Improving Accessibility

4.        The Ministry of Health (MOH) is increasing accessibility to palliative care services, in particular, community-based palliative care, and HCA is our key partner in this journey. As the largest provider of home hospice care in Singapore, the HCA team supports more than 3,500 patients and makes about 37,000 home visits annually. HCA also operates two of the four day hospices in Singapore, serving around 240 clients annually.

Improving Quality

5.          In addition to ensuring sufficient capacity of palliative care services, MOH has been focusing on improving the quality of palliative care. Since 2017, MOH has been working with the Singapore Hospice Council members, including HCA, on a quality improvement journey to better meet the National Guidelines for Palliative Care. As part of this effort, HCA Hospice Care has embarked on several Quality Improvement Programmes ranging from improving its pain and symptom management protocols to enhancing Advance Care Planning (ACP) workflows. In addition, each of the five HCA Satellite Centres is embarking on new initiatives, such as on improving patients’ hand hygiene and tapping on new technology to reduce needle-stick injuries, to improve the quality of home hospice care.

Improving Affordability

6.          Other than improving accessibility and quality of palliative care, we have also made palliative care more affordable for Singaporeans. Over the last few years, we have increased subsidies and MediSave withdrawal limits for inpatient hospice and home palliative care. We have also extended subsidies and MediSave coverage to day hospice care, and more recently, to paediatric home palliative care as well. Last year, the Senior’s Mobility and Enabling Fund was extended to clients on home palliative services. Alongside these enhancements, subsidies for consumables like catheters and milk feeds are available to eligible home palliative patients.

7.         With better accessibility, quality and affordability of palliative care, more Singaporeans can spend their last days of life in as much dignity and comfort as possible.

HCA’s Enhanced Programmes

8.       HCA’s services include a day hospice service which provides a safe and supportive environment for patients who are well enough to participate in social activities. This helps to relieve caregivers and prevent isolation of patients. Patients are provided with meals, recreational activities, rehabilitation, art and music therapy, as well as medical and nursing reviews if necessary. In conjunction with the relocation of its main day hospice to this new facility, HCA has widened its admission criteria in January this year to bring in less mobile patients to the day hospice. This was supported by an increase in the transportation capacity and changes in day hospice activities to meet the needs of this group of patients.

9.       HCA has also extended their assistance to home-alone patients who are not mobile, by providing a door-to-door transportation service to enable them to attend the day hospice to socialise and enjoy their day. As a result of these changes, the number of patients with physical mobility challenges attending the day hospice has increased from two patients a day to 10 or more patients a day.

10.     This has made a difference to patients such as Mr Tan Swan Par, who was admitted to HCA’s day hospice just last month. Mr Tan has cancer and has limited mobility. Before he was referred to HCA Hospice Care, Mr Tan used to be alone at home while his wife, the sole breadwinner, went to work and his teenage children attended school. With HCA’s door-to-door service, Mr Tan is now able to come to HCA day hospice to receive care, socialise, and participate in the programmes.

11.     Apart from better accessibility of its day hospice, HCA has also made its day hospice programs more interesting and targeted at individual patients’ needs. HCA has introduced duo-programming, where patients are able to choose from two different programmes based on their activity levels - more active patients can choose a faster-paced programme such as exercises using virtual stimulation technology, while those who prefer a more relaxed day can opt for the slower-paced programme such as art therapy. These changes have generated a lot of interest and excitement amongst the patients.

12.     By making their day hospice services more accessible and personalised, HCA is now able to cater for a wider variety of patients with different needs and abilities, making their service a more meaningful and inclusive one.

Conclusion

13.      As we look around at the audience today, we are reminded that it takes a whole community to help the dying live as well as they can. To all the donors, volunteers, staff, supporters and friends of HCA, thank you for enabling HCA to reach this significant milestone. As depicted in the Singapore Hospice and Palliative Care Movement heritage mural on HCA’s premises, you are crucial links in this network, enabling people to live their last days with dignity and quality. It is vital that we keep this movement alive so that all who have life-threatening illnesses will be well cared for to the end, by people like yourselves who contribute from the heart. With this, it is my great privilege to formally declare HCA Hospice Care’s new premises officially open.

Thank you.