09 Apr 2011
By: SALMA KHALIK
HOSPITALS may take pride in scoring breakthroughs in research or cutting- edge treatment, but what is more important to the patient?
The answer, from Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan yesterday, was: "When patients come to us, they just want clear answers to two questions: What is wrong with me? What can you do to return me to health?"
He highlighted this need to cultivate the "soft skills" of empathy, compassion and kindness in his speech as he opened the Singapore General Hospital's (SGH's) Annual Scientific Meeting.
Doctors with poor bedside manners are more likely to get complaints, he added.
While noting recent achievements by the hospital, such as the country's first dual-kidney transplant, where both kidneys from a dead older donor were used, and having its nursing qualities ranked among the top 5 per cent of hospitals worldwide, he said it is useful to remember what patients expect.
What most of them need is not the latest technology or cutting-edge research, but "objective, sound advice and the lowest-cost option that delivers results".
To deliver what is stated in SGH's tagline – Patients: At the heart of all we do – requires acknowledging several medical truths, Mr Khaw said.
First is that most illnesses do not require the high-tech sophistication of an academic medical centre like SGH.
This is why he has been pushing for the development of regional hospitals. The one at Yishun opened last year, and two more will be built in Jurong and Sengkang.
Second, while treating the 10 per cent of the population that get hospitalised each year, it is equally important to ensure that the other 90 per cent stay well and out of hospital.
Third, human beings are mortals, so "when the limits of medical science have been reached, we should focus on palliative care, minimising suffering and helping to bring closure for the family", he told the large audience filling the College of Medicine Building's auditorium.
Mr Khaw also read out excerpts from a letter he received last week from the son of a subsidised patient who had been rushed to hospital after a fall. He did not name the hospital, but The Straits Times understands that it is Tan Tock Seng Hospital.
The man wrote that Dr Atiyeh Mazin, a medical officer in orthopaedic surgery, "thoroughly explained to (him) the various medical care approaches and the possible risks that could arise".
When the man's 89-year-old mother became unconscious, the doctor told him to alert his family as she was not responding to treatment. The doctor was "cool, calm and very caring".
The man also praised Dr Pankaj Handa, a consultant in general medicine, and his team of "dedicated doctors" who helped his mother recover, checking on her even on a Sunday. "He listens, shares his wisdom and knowledge and is decisive," added the letter.
He was also impressed with several others, such as Dr Joseph Rajendran, a resident physician in general medicine, who explained his mother's condition with a hand-drawn diagram, house officer Emily Tan, who skipped lunch to help patients, and nurse manager Salbiah Atan.
The writer said he appreciated their understanding and patience, although he admitted: "My family of 15 brothers and sisters were very demanding."
Said Mr Khaw: "The team made me proud as the Health Minister... Let's continue to touch lives and put patients at the heart of what we do."
Email: salma@sph.com.sg
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