Overheard at SGH townhall Grapevine on 15 May 2019, from members of the Future Inpatient Journey Workgroup.

Your "elderly patients" are more ready than you think  

"We are planning the new SGH for 2030 and beyond. When the hospital opens in 2035, it's not for the patients in 2035. That new hospital will last till 2060 and beyond. So who will be the 70-year-olds in 2035? That's me, and I can use a mobile phone. So we've got to plan for the future, and the elderly of tomorrow are those who are not so old now. Those in their 60s today are very savvy with technology."
CEO Prof Kenneth Kwek

CEO Professor Kenneth Kwek and CMB Associate Professor Ruban Poopalalingam giving a demo of vital statistics being collected via biosensors, which have been tested in Ward 45A since February.

Help is just a holler away

"In my department, I'm the second last Physiotherapist to learn how to use WhatsApp. Just when I got comfortable with it, along came WorkChat which works differently, frustrating the hell out of me.

I realised that when new technology comes around, you need to have people around you who support you. My colleagues know - I will ask them, "How do I do this?" There are always people around to help. And I believe that when the hospital pushes out new systems, it will set up ways to assist us.

Looking at the wearables, we used to look at simple data points – 5, 6, 8 data points. But with round-the-clock capturing, we will be looking at thousands of data points and have to make sense of them. But I don't think it's impossible, we just need new skills. I believe with structured training and organisation, a newly graduated PT should be able to decipher these data and use them fruitfully."
Dr Ong Hwee Kuan, Senior Principal Physiotherapist



Start with complaints and frustrations 

"I am a complainer by nature, and I like to hear other people complain.  If enough of us complain about the same thing, we know there's an important problem to be solved. It's exciting to be in an era where there is so much technology out there to harness the creative energy of everyone and our medical expertise, to put them to play in the lives of our patients."  
Dr Amanda Lam, Associate Consultant, Endocrinology



Don't burn out! Do change as a group

"Think about what irks you; the things you want to change. Come together with like-minded people and you do it together so that the work gets spread out. Tap on everyone for ideas or participation. It's easier to work in a group – especially a group with the same idea, focus and passion."
Dr Phua Ghee Chee, Head of Respiratory & Critical Care Medicine, who co-leads Future Inpatient Journey Workgroup with Ms Ang Shin Yuh, Deputy Director Nursing



It's all about our patients

"A lot of times, we worry that technology will replace the human touch. Our aim here is to use technology to augment the care. It's about giving us, the staff, time to work with the patient but the beneficiary is still the patient who will have more face time with us."
Yee Kai Sin, Senior Speech Therapist



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