Dr Stephanie Ko Qianwen (NUH)

Patients generally have a better experience recuperating in a familiar environment around their family. This kind of experience has been replicated both from not only from my anecdotal experience as a clinician, but also based on research studies that we’ve done on patient experience in Singapore.

We see the benefits to patients in terms of improved patient experience, reduced hospital acquired infections, reduced functional decline and that has all been reported in the literature.

My key takeaway is that health care policy and care model innovation has been a lot more dynamic and agile in Singapore than I previously anticipated. The fact that we’ve been able to go from idea conception to sandbox to mainstream within about four to five years is a testament to this. Because I think with the right leaders and the right ideas, and good implementation teams, there’s actually a lot of support from multiple levels to do the right thing and provide the best care that we can for patients in the most sustainable manner.