Training Committees To Help 37,000 Public Healthcare Workers Upskill

• Healthcare Academy signs Memoranda of Understanding with National Healthcare Group and Singapore Health Services to form Company Training Committees.
• Under the MOU all parties will come together to establish jobs, skills and training committees at their respective cluster levels to synergise transformation and learning.
• Some 37,000 workers from the sector stand to benefit from the signing.

The Healthcare Academy, comprising Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU), NTUC’s e2i (Employment and Employability Institute) and NTUC LearningHub, signed two Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) with the National Healthcare Group (NHG) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) to form two new Company Training Committees (CTCs) on 3 December 2019 at NTUC Centre.

Witnessed by NTUC Deputy Secretary-General Heng Chee How, the MOUs will stand to benefit more than 60 per cent of the public healthcare sector workforce across 22 institutions, helping them adapt to a rapidly evolving healthcare landscape.

Prior to the signing, Mr Heng mentioned that the signing of these MOUs was significant, and that they would be further developed through all the training committees at each of the hospitals into plans that would involve and benefit all the 37,000 workers under both healthcare groups.

Transformation and Learning

Under the MOU, the Healthcare Academy will, together with NHG and SingHealth, establish jobs, skills and training committees at their respective cluster levels to synergise transformation and learning across and within the various institutions.

Earlier this year, the Healthcare Academy had already scaled up training efforts through the set-up of CTCs with Tan Tock Seng Hospital in May, as well as the National University Health System and NTUC Health in August, impacting some 24,000 workers.

Building on this momentum, the two new CTCs will further benefit more than 9,000 workers under NHG and some 27,000 workers under SingHealth.

Also, under the MOU, to effectively take workplace transformation and training efforts beyond the cluster level to the institution level, committee workgroups will be formed at the institution and domain level respectively.

These workgroups will aim to develop new skills amongst healthcare workers, facilitate transition of existing and new workers into newly redesigned job roles, and enhance skill upgrading initiatives.

Collaborations for Healthcare Workers’ Benefit

President of HSEU K. Thanaletchimi said: “Today’s MOUs underscore the positive labour-management relations HSEU enjoys with our management partners and signifies the whole of the public healthcare sector’s commitment to partner the union, to pre-emptively and proactively help our healthcare workers gain better skills and better work ahead of industry transformation.

“This is the first step, but an important one, and I look forward to continued and strengthened partnerships with both NHG and SingHealth.”

Group CEO of NHG Philip Choo said: “At NHG, we work alongside the union and the Healthcare Academy to raise productivity and skill-sets of our people, tapping on best practices, innovation and technology to deliver accessible, affordable and reliable care for our population.”

Group CEO of SingHealth Ivy Ng concluded: “As we leverage technology to improve healthcare delivery, we must ensure that our staff are future-ready and well-equipped to continue contributing to healthcare through existing, redeployed or redesigned roles.

“Today’s MOU will help our workers upskill themselves for career development and progression, so that they can continue having meaningful careers in healthcare.”