Meeting with SMS Dr Lam Pin Min
Several SMA Council members, including SMA President Dr Wong Tien Hua, met with Dr Lam Pin Min, Senior Minister of State (SMS) for Health, on 8 August 2017 to discuss the outcomes of the recent inquiries by the Singapore Medical Council Disciplinary Tribunals and High Court appeals. We conveyed concerns from the ground regarding potential ramifications of the verdicts. SMA also provided suggestions on how the system of self-regulation can be further reinforced and improved. Please also refer to this issue's President Forum for more details (see page 8).
SMA Clinic Assistant Train and Place Programme
SMA has developed a Clinic Assistant Train and Place Programme, with the support of the Employment and Employability Institute, to train predominantly unemployed members of the public who are interested to work in healthcare clinics. Course participants will receive the Certificate of Completion upon their graduation from the four-day Clinic Assistant Introductory Skills Course.
Since its inception in November 2016, the SMA Clinic Assistant Train and Place Programme has trained more than 60 graduates for job vacancies put up by SMA Members at https://www.sma.org.sg/trainandplace. SMA Members can contact membership@sma.org.sg for details on how to gain access to these SMA-trained candidates for job interviews and offers. The next Clinic Assistant Introductory Skills Course will be taking place from 1 to 4 November 2017.
Feedback on table of fee range
The Office of Public Guardian (OPG) had published a table on their website highlighting a range of fees charged by psychiatrists, lawyers and accredited doctors for Lasting Power of Attorney certificate issuers. The purpose of the table was for OPG to give the public an indicative cost of doing an LPA, and was based on the average charges for the top 20 most frequented issuers in each of the three groups. SMA engaged OPG to provide feedback on the format in which the information was shared on the webpages and the webpages were subsequently amended to enhance the clarity of the information presented.
Template for Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) Activation
SMA was engaged by the OPG to improve the medical report template for activating LPA. This template will be useful to doctors who are involved in such work. Several improvements were made, including allowing legible handwritten entries and not just limiting it to type-written entries, as well as adding an option to refer the patient to a specialist for further assessment. The finalised template can be found on the OPG website at https://www.publicguardian.gov.sg/opg/Pages/Forms.aspx or SMA's website at https://www.sma.org.sg/ourvoice/index.aspx?ID=71, under the "Other Advisories" table.