As part of its inaugural Quality Week opening ceremony, National Heart Centre (NHC) will be presenting 20 graduates of the Skills Training and Employability Enhancement for Retrenched Workers (STEER) programme their certificates today.

Guest-of-Honour Mr Matthias Yao, Senior Minister of State (Prime Minister's Office) and Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC), will present these 20 graduates their certificates and will make a short address regarding the STEER programme.

The programme, which aims to equip our fellow Singaporeans who had lost their jobs with basic patient care skills such as the assisting of doctors and nurses with physical examinations and administrative support skills, is a joint initiative by NHC and NTUC.

After an intensive nine- or three - month long course, the 20 STEER graduates are now equipped with the relevant skills to enter the healthcare sector as either healthcare assistants, patient services assistants and health attendants. Some of these graduates are now employed by NHC and the various Singhealth institutions. 
Said Acting Director of National Heart Centre, A/Prof Koh Tian Hai: "Quality training is important for they allow our staff to continuously develop into more professional and skilled staff. It is only through the development of our staff are we able to further provide our patients with these intangible benefits."

Said Director of Nursing, Madam Lim Swee Hia: " Although the trainees have no prior healthcare experience, they are very keen to learn. With the extension of the nurses' job scopes, the healthcare assistants can take over simple nursing tasks and basic patient care. Together, we can form a team to provide quality patient care."

The STEER programme is also supported by organisations like Mendaki, CDAC and SINDA.