Collaboration in best nursing practices and hospital management expected to benefit up to 1,000 healthcare professionals
Singapore, 8 April 2013 – Singapore General Hospital (SGH) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Shanghai’s RuiJin Hospital Group that will see the Singapore hospital trains some 560 clinical, specialist, and ward manager nurses, as well as senior managers and hospital administrators from the six hospitals under the RuiJin Hospital Group, over a period of two years.
The two-year programme will be supported by Temasek Foundation, Singapore with a grant of S$840,250, while RuiJin Hospital Group will co-fund S$434,300 towards the programme.
To strengthen their hospital and healthcare management skills, some 525 specialist nurses and nursing leaders from the RuiJin Hospital Group will undergo training in best nursing practices and skills training in various clinical specialties such as intensive care, trauma management and oncology; risk and quality management; human resource management and team building, and standard operating procedures. The training will be conducted by nurse educators and trainers from the SingHealth Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing (Alice Lee IAN) under SGH. Thereafter, 125 participants will be selected from the 525 participants, to be trained as specialist master trainers. They will go on to train another 1,000 nurses in order to multiply the benefits of the training.
In addition, some 35 hospital leaders will learn about the various aspects of hospital and healthcare management and policy, patient safety, use of information technology in operations, and service quality, during their training stint in Singapore.
The courses for different groups of nurses include lectures in Shanghai and clinical attachments in SGH.
Under the agreement, the two hospitals will share and exchange medical and scientific information, exchange visiting medical and nursing staff, jointly organise scientific conferences, symposiums, courses and meetings, and jointly embark on research in areas of mutual interest.
Professor Ang Chong Lye, Chief Executive Officer, SGH: “We are privileged to be chosen to share our experience in hospital and policy management with RuiJin Hospital Group. We hope that application of key learnings and understanding of Singapore’s healthcare system, especially in the areas of hospital risk management, clinical governance and quality control, will benefit and enhance patient care at RuiJin’s hospitals.
“This partnership will broaden and enrich SGH’s perspective on medical care, which will help us in our ongoing quest to improve patient care in Singapore.”
Mr Benedict Cheong, Chief Executive Officer, Temasek Foundation: “Programmes like these provide good opportunities to establish strong ties and networks among nursing professionals from both Singapore and China for the exchange of knowledge and skills. Long after the programme has concluded, the nursing staff from both institutions can continue to consult and work together in providing quality nursing care for our communities. Together, we can work towards providing better standards of nursing care in Asia.”
As China’s public healthcare sector undergoes reform, the RuiJin Hospital Group management hopes to learn from reputable overseas healthcare institution in training their nursing leaders and senior management, and decided to partner SGH because of its reputation and capability in providing clinical and practical attachment.
Prof Zhu Zhenggang, President, RuiJin Hospital: “I hope that after their training, the participants will put into practice what they have learnt. I also hope they will serve as role models and mentors to their colleagues, and to motivate and encourage them to improve the overall quality of patient care. SGH is among Asia’s best teaching hospitals and we hope to see more collaboration with SGH in the areas of medical care, education and research to jointly promote translational research and the advancement of medicine.”
This is the first collaboration between SGH and Temasek Foundation. Training for the first batch of nursing leaders will begin on 8 April 2013, and training is expected to be completed in 2014.
