Speech for Health Minister Gan Kim Yong at the Opening Ceremony of the Singapore Physiotherapy Association’s 8th National Congress , 8 Sep, 1.00PM, at the Conrad Centennial Hotel

Mr Philip Cheong, Chairperson of the Singapore Physiotherapy Association National Congress 2012 Organising Committee,

Mr Dinesh Verma, President of the Singapore Physiotherapy Association,

Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

1. Good afternoon. Thank you for inviting me to the 8th Singapore Physiotherapy Association National Congress.

2. Physiotherapy has gained a good standing as an allied health profession over its 60-year history in Singapore. In the 1940s the profession took root here when physiotherapists were first brought in from the UK. They started local services to rehabilitate patients with polio and treat post-war victims with fracture injuries. From the 1950s onwards we began sending local individuals overseas for tertiary-level physiotherapy training. With the training received, individuals including pioneering PTs such as Ms Lim Peck Ngoh, the founder of SPA, and Ms Chin Yew Gaik returned to make valuable contributions in developing the profession.

3. Over the years, we have seen physiotherapists in Singapore make great strides in professional practice and status. Today you have grown in numbers to a size of nearly 900 Physiotherapists in Singapore and have good reasons to celebrate your achievements. As medical science and health care practices continue to advance, physiotherapists too, have progressed to become highly-trained integral members of healthcare teams. In fact, all across the world, we see a shift towards team-based care where physiotherapists work alongside doctors, nurses and other allied health professionals to plan and provide patient care.

4. There has been significant breakthrough in the scope of clinical practice and rehabilitation. For instance, we now have physiotherapist-led clinical assessments and services that harness the use of robotics technology. At Tan Tock Seng Hospital’s Centre for Advanced Rehabilitation Therapeutics, patients with stroke can now undergo rehabilitation programmes that engage robotics and virtual reality technologies. At Changi General Hospital, patients suffering from acute low back pain can receive prompt physiotherapy services at ambulatory clinics. Rather than having to wait to for scheduled appointments. These timely interventions not only help relieve pain and anxiety from patients, but also reduce the need for hospital admissions and appointment waiting times.

5. Today, physiotherapy services have moved beyond the traditional settings in our acute hospitals and clinics into different facets of the community. For example, to support the early discharge of stroke patients, physiotherapists now embark on home physiotherapy services to help patients regain functional mobility, independence and confidence. Physiotherapists can be an important touch point in our health promotion efforts in the community. The signing of the memorandum of understanding between the Health Promotion Board and the SPA later underscores the important role physiotherapist play in promoting health in the community. The “Physiotherapists Partnership Programme” will equip physiotherapists with health promotion and disease prevention knowledge and skills to effectively convey preventive and curative care advice to patients and their families. The role of physiotherapy does not just stop at individual services,

but also extends to schools and corporate organisations, where innovative health and wellness programmes are designed and delivered by physiotherapists to promote healthy living.

6. With growing needs of our population, we expect to face an increasing demand for healthcare manpower. Between now and 2020, we will need to significantly increase the total national number of allied healthcare professionals and support staff. To do so, we will need to increase our local training pipelines for professional manpower, while maintaining our recruitment of foreign-trained professionals, especially overseas-trained Singaporean allied healthcare professionals. We hope to attract more of them back to Singapore.

7. Over the last few years, my ministry has made changes in the way healthcare is delivered. Earlier this year, I announced that MOH would be looking into setting up Community Health Centres and Family Medicine Clinics. We are also working with the Social Sector to bring rehabilitation services closer to the community. Physiotherapists will have a valuable role to play in all of these facilities, both in preventive care and treatment of conditions.

8. On the educational front, MOH has worked with various healthcare training institutes to increase and expand the training pipeline across the healthcare professions. We have raised the physiotherapy student intakes at the Nanyang polytechnic. Singapore Institute of Technology has partnered Trinity College Dublin to offer one year top-up degree programme in Physiotherapy to raise the knowledge and skills of Physiotherapists. Additionally, to enable Singaporeans from other sectors the opportunity to join healthcare, Professional Conversion Programmes in Allied Health have also been introduced.

9. The physiotherapy profession has made progress not only in clinical practice and education. On 10th January 2011, the Allied Health Professions Act was passed in Parliament. With the Act in place, we can certainly look forward to better standards of care and professionalism of the physiotherapy community when registration starts.

Conclusion

10. With such exciting progress being made, physiotherapists will have a lot to offer in the days ahead towards raising the standards of allied healthcare in Singapore while keeping it cost-effective and safe. The Singapore Physiotherapy Association will have a key role to play in bringing the professionals together towards greater heights and excellence.

11. On this note, I wish you and enjoyable and successful meeting. Thank you.