Singapore, 3 December 2018 – More than 120 healthcare leaders and public officials from 16 countries across Asia gathered in Singapore today for the opening of the Temasek Foundation Healthcare Executives in Asia Leadership Programme (TF Intl HEAL). The five-day programme, which runs from 3 December to 7 December, was officially opened by Mr Edwin Tong, Senior Minister of State for Health.

In its fifth run, the TF Intl HEAL programme serves as an important platform for delegates across Asia to learn from one another and build networks of cooperation to strengthen healthcare access and delivery.

Co-organised by SingHealth and National Healthcare Group (NHG) and sponsored by Temasek Foundation International, the programme has benefitted over 250 healthcare leaders and public officials from 21 countries since it started in 2015.

This year’s programme covers a wide range of key areas including healthcare governance and policy, clinical quality and process improvement and hospital management. Delegates will also visit healthcare facilities at SingHealth and NHG including the Diabetes and Metabolism Centre at Singapore General Hospital (SGH) Campus and the newly setup Ng Teng Fong Centre for Healthcare Innovation at HealthCity Novena Campus.

Associate Professor Chua Yeow Leng, Group Director, International Collaboration Office, SingHealth, said: “SingHealth is privileged to co-organise the HEAL programme, which provides a dynamic platform for knowledge exchange in the region. With increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases, it is important for healthcare leaders and practitioners to come together to pioneer sustainable care solutions to improve health in our communities.”

“The strength of HEAL, year after year, has always come from its wonderful diversity: our multinational delegates share their cultures, healthcare challenges and innovations. From this fertile mix that characterises HEAL, participants and organisers have always garnered fresh perspectives, renewed energy and lasting friendships. We look forward to recreating the same magic again this time,” said Associate Professor Wong Hon Tym, Clinical Director, Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH).

Mr Benedict Cheong, Chief Executive, Temasek Foundation International, said, “Healthcare plays an important part in the economic and social development of any community. This is why since 2015, Temasek Foundation International has been supporting the HEAL programme to bring together healthcare leaders across Asia to learn from each other and to help collectively advance healthcare in Asia and beyond. By supporting this and other healthcare programmes, we believe that the participating healthcare leaders and specialists can benefit from mutual learning and closer collaboration.”

Building healthcare capabilities and sustainability in the region

In addition to the TF Intl HEAL programme, SingHealth and NHG partner healthcare institutions across Asia to exchange expertise in areas including Trauma, Emergency and Disaster Management; Patient Safety and Hospital Quality Management; as well as Maternal and Child Health.

Since 2015, SGH has been working with the Government of West Bengal to develop capabilities in critical care and trauma management. As the designated regional centre managing national healthcare in the state, West Bengal plays a critical role in providing training support to 68 hospitals in 20 districts and cities. To date, the four-year programme has trained more than 1,000 healthcare professionals from West Bengal.

KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital has embarked on a programme this year with Surabaya Haji General Hospital, Indonesia to train 850 healthcare professionals from six public hospitals. The programme aims to equip participants with the skills and knowledge to manage time-sensitive emergencies to reduce the mortality rate for infants and children under five years of age in the East Java province.

TTSH, a member of the National Healthcare Group, has been collaborating with various hospitals in Cambodia, including Calmette Hospital, Khmer-Soviet Friendship Hospital, Preah Kossamak Hospital, Royal Phnom Penh Hospital and Siem Reap Provincial Hospital since 2014 on training programmes for critical care and trauma management from the pre-hospital environment to the emergency room, operating theatre and intensive care unit. In January 2016, TTSH also helped establish a data registry on trauma patients. To date, more than 200 Cambodian doctors and nurses have benefitted from the skills-sharing and training programmes. The success of this collaboration has led TTSH to develop a second programme on imparting techniques in intensive care and nursing, clinical quality and improvement tools and leadership and development.