​MEDIA RELEASE

NEW SINGHEALTH POLYCLINICS – TAMPINES NORTH OFFICIALLY OPENS ON 29 SEPTEMBER 2023 TO MEET THE PRIMARY CARE NEEDS OF RESIDENTS IN TAMPINES NORTH

Singapore, 29 September 2023 - SingHealth Polyclinics (SHP) – Tampines North was officially opened today by Mr Ong Ye Kung, Minister for Health. Spanning four levels, the clinic is located at the junction of Tampines Ave 6 and Tampines Street 61 and is the tenth polyclinic under SHP.

This brand-new polyclinic provides a comprehensive and holistic range of primary care services to meet the healthcare needs of the new Tampines North estate, including outpatient medical care and treatment for chronic and acute conditions, women’s and children’s health services, immunisations, allied health services such as physiotherapy, podiatry, and dietetics, as well as diagnostics and radiological services including X-ray, mammogram, and ultrasound.

Care Model in SHP-Tampines North

In alignment with the national Healthier SG strategy, SHP-Tampines North will focus on team-based care model. Known as My Care Team (MCT), patients who are enrolled with SHP-Tampines North or other SingHealth Polyclinics will receive care from the multidisciplinary team comprising Doctors, Nurses, and Ancillary and Administrative Staff serving as Health Pals, who will partner patients in planning for their medical, social and preventive care needs.

To facilitate integrated care within the polyclinic, each MCT will be seated in the same module in SHP-Tampines North, which enables stronger teamwork and better communication within the care team. Dr Sabrina Wee, Clinic Director, SHP-Tampines North shared, “With MCT, enrolled patients will benefit from a long-term and trusting relationship with their healthcare team, with each patient receiving a personalised care plan, as well as practical advice and tips to stay healthy. They will also be assisted by a dedicated team of Health Pals, who will advise them on their preventive care needs, and coordinate their health screening and vaccination appointments.”

Enhancing Patient Experience in SHP-Tampines North

To empower and improve patient’s experience, automated stations are made available across all levels of the clinic to facilitate speedier transactions. Patients may make use of the Self-Service Stations to perform an array of services, from registration, appointment making, and payment services.

As an even higher level of service efficiency and empowerment, patients may use SingHealth’s Health Buddy app to perform all the above transactions on-the-go, from the comfort of their home before or after their appointments at the polyclinic. For added security and protection against SMS phishing scam links, patients are encouraged to enable personal notifications on Health Buddy to receive their appointment related messages and reminders.

Bringing Care Closer to Patients

In January 2023, SHP piloted the Acute-On-Demand TeleHealth (AODTH) service at SHP-Eunos for patients who wish to consult a doctor for their General Medical Conditions such as mild acute respiratory illness or COVID-19 infection, gastroenteritis, urinary tract infection, muscle or joint pain. This service is currently available to all patients, including those from SHP-Tampines North, and they may use the Health Buddy App to book an appointment on the same day to consult a doctor virtually.

Plans are also in progress to bring other SHP Video Consultation (ViCON) services to SHP-Tampines North, including services offered by our Doctors, Nurses, and allied health professionals such as Medical Social Workers, Physiotherapists, Dietitians and Pharmacists, as well as the Primary Tech-Enhanced Care (PTEC) Home Blood Pressure Monitoring Programme, a collaborative effort between MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT) and the three Polyclinic Clusters - National Healthcare Group Polyclinics (NHGP), National University Polyclinics (NUP) and SHP, and supported by Synapxe (previously known as Integrated Health Information Systems – IHiS) to SHP-Tampines North. PTEC enables patients with high blood pressure to better manage their conditions in the comfort of their home, with the help of easy-to-use technology and tele-consultations from the polyclinic.

Dr David Ng, Chief Executive Officer of SHP, said, “As of April 2023, SHP has conducted over 36,000 ViCONs for our patients. As we expand our ViCON services and tap on technology to empower our patients in self-monitoring of their blood pressure and blood glucose level, we will increase our efforts to enable those who are less digital savvy, or unable to afford telemedicine services through community partnerships.” SHP is currently collaborating with community nurses through THESS – the TeleHEalth Service for Seniors to set up ViCON services at patients’ homes or in the neighbouring Senior Activity Centres, so

that more patients may receive safe and quality care in the comfort of their homes. “THESS is currently available in SHP-Bedok and SHP-Marine Parade, and will be progressively expanded to all our polyclinics so that more of our elderly patients can benefit from access to telemedicine,” Dr David added.

Going Green at SHP-Tampines North

The landscape of SHP-Tampines North was conceptualised with “An Ethnobotany Garden” theme in mind, which incorporates attributes of nature and sustainability into its design. The building encompasses a green theme design with leaf motifs and green hues, and is surrounded by gardens and greenery. Eco-friendly features such as roof top gardens, LED lights, solar panels, high-efficiency aircon chillers, and naturally ventilated washrooms help to promote energy efficiency and sustainability.

Apart from the flora and fauna motifs in the clinic, paintings on nature and scenery by inmates from the Singapore Prison Service Visual Arts Hub filled the walls. This is part of Healing Arts @ SingHealth Polyclinics, an initiative to transform healthcare experience through arts, and make art accessible in the community.

In conjunction with the SHP-Tampines North official opening, a Tree Planting exercise was organised to signify our commitment towards decarbonisation. Organisations were also invited to support our fundraising effort “Adopt A Tree”, where they may adopt a tree within the SHP-Tampines North’s compound in support of research and education endeavours in Family Medicine.