Some 15,000 healthcare workers will be upskilled to secure better work prospects and be mentally resilient to handle the rigours of a transformed healthcare environment.
This comes after the Labour Movement’s Healthcare Academy signed agreements on 29 August 2019 with National University Health System (NUHS) and NTUC Health to form company training committees (CTC).
The committees will identify steps to upskill employees and equip them as Healthcare Worker 4.0.
These will include addressing skills gaps and training needs; and developing mechanisms to help existing and new workers adapt through transformation.
The committees will also use new platforms like U Leap (Learning Enabled through Active Participation) by NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) to help with the training.
NUHS is the first public healthcare cluster to form a CTC with the Labour Movement, while NTUC Health is the first in the intermediate long-term care sector.
The CTCs aim to scale up existing efforts by the Healthcare Academy, which was launched in August last year.
“Today’s MoUs are very important to us as they are issues close to our heart. The first is part of our efforts to enable our staff to work well into their 70s if they choose to do so, equipping them with the skills needed in a digital world.
“The second is part of our efforts at total workplace safety and health. The physical and mental health of our staff are critical if they are to care for our patients, support their caregivers, educate our students, and develop solutions to the challenges we face. Investing in our staff is one of our highest priorities,” said NUHS CEO John Eu-Li Wong.
Meanwhile, the Healthcare Academy will partner NTUC Health to equip workers in the growing intermediate long-term care sector to better prepare for the requirements of a rapidly ageing population.
NTUC Health CEO Chan Su Yee said: “Our staff play an important role in innovating care models and processes and delivering care that meets the evolving needs of seniors and their families. It is important for us to equip them to succeed in a job that can be challenging, not just physically but also mentally and emotionally.
“This is why we are glad to partner Healthcare Academy to develop our staff and prepare them to adapt well in an environment that will see greater use of technology and transformed business processes.”
The CTCs come after the one formed between Healthcare Academy and Tan Tock Seng Hospital. This brings the number of healthcare workers set to benefit from CTCs to a total of 34,000, which is about 40 per cent of the industry’s workforce size of 81,000.
