Special Committee to Address Training Needs, Programmes and Accreditation for Jobs under Healthcare Industry Transformation Maps

Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) whether there is a special committee formed to address the training needs, programmes and programme accreditation for jobs identified under the Healthcare Industry Transformation Maps; and (b) whether the Ministry is supportive of union participation in the committee with the involvement of the three healthcare clusters to form a training council so as to address the training needs of all categories of healthcare staff involved.

The Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) are a tripartite effort to set out our industry transformation plan through the three pillars of Enhancing Jobs and Skills, Raising Productivity and Catalysing Innovation. The Ministry of Health (MOH) would like to thank the Healthcare Services Employees’ Union (HSEU) for working closely with us on the Healthcare ITMs.

MOH takes a holistic approach towards manpower development for the various healthcare professions where training is considered together with regulatory policies, professional practices and job redesign.

For major professions, such as Nursing, we have set up dedicated committees to look into these issues, for example, the MOH National Nursing Taskforce and the Future Nursing Career Review Committee which the union is represented in. We have also set up committees on specific areas which require more focused attention, such as the Skills Framework Steering Committee, which has engaged the union on the development of the Skills Framework for Healthcare.

The Skills Framework will document emerging healthcare roles and skills according to the strategic directions outlined in the healthcare ITM. It will also map training programmes to the associated competencies.

The Skills Framework for Healthcare will be completed this year, and it represents an opportunity to strengthen the tripartite relationship among MOH, the healthcare clusters and the union to prepare our workforce for the future.

MOH will continue to engage HSEU and our clusters at appropriate fora to identify training needs, particularly of workers preparing to take on emerging roles, and organise training programmes to address them. To this end, we note that HSEU and the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) Learning Hub launched the HSEU Healthcare Academy as a collaborative effort to provide some of this training.

We are happy to work with the Labour Movement further to strengthen and deepen our links on workforce training and development. These efforts at tripartite dialogue with union and employers can take place at all levels without a formal training council, and we look forward to continuing our journey with HSEU in this area.

Mr Speaker, Sir, I would like to thank the Senior Minister of State Dr Amy Khor for the reply. Dr Khor mentioned that the Skills Framework will be out at the end of this year. May I know which profession or category of jobs in the Skills Framework will be out? Is it particularly nursing, allied health or all the other categories of jobs?

The categories of jobs or occupations that are covered under the Skills Framework, we will be launching a number of them in the first instance and these will generally be for the nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, pharmacy technicians, support care staff, patient service associates.