Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to join you this afternoon for the first graduation ceremony for Senior Enrolled Nurses and Therapist Assistants.

Let me first congratulate the 15 Senior Enrolled Nurses and the 7 Therapy Assistants who have successfully completed Nursing Courses and the Certificate of Competency for Rehabilitation Therapy Course respectively. While fulfilling their daily work responsibilities, they have also upgraded their skills and knowledge through nine months of theory and on-the-job training for the Senior Enrolled Nurses, and six months for the Therapy Assistants. These participants are all experienced healthcare staff, with between three to 37 years of service on their jobs. I am glad that they have taken up the challenge to upgrade their skills to meet the needs of the healthcare sector.

Senior Enrolled Nurses play a very important role in the hospitals. They are valuable as they provide direct bedside care to the patients. They assist patients in their activities of daily living and monitor their conditions. They also help to guide and supervise Enrolled Nurses and Patient Care Assistants in caring for the patients.

A well-trained Senior Enrolled Nurse can help Registered Nurses to provide high quality nursing care. This course not only provides the nurses with more knowledge and a higher level of skills to assume their responsibilities, it has also enhanced their professionalism and opened up career opportunities for them.

Therapy Assistants are a valuable resource to the Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists. They assist our therapists in providing more personalised care to patients. Prior to the commencement of this first Certificate of Competency for Rehabilitation Therapy course, there was no formal training for the Therapist Assistants. I am glad to officiate at this graduation ceremony for Therapy Assistants as I believe that they would have benefited tremendously from their participation in this programme. The training has not only equipped them with knowledge and skills, but also improved their employability as well.

I would like to commend Changi General Hospital and the Institute of Technical Education for developing this course for the Therapy Assistants. Changi General Hospital has actively taken up the challenge to redevelop the skill levels of their healthcare staff. It has developed several courses to ensure that its staff remain well-trained so as to provide integrated and holistic patient-centred care. As a general hospital, CGH has the expertise, infrastructure and clinical opportunities to provide this training and I am glad that your organisation has taken the initiative to do so.

In closing, I would like to urge all healthcare staff to take on the challenge of skills upgrading and continuing education. It is only through such efforts of lifelong learning that we can provide quality healthcare for all Singaporeans in the 21^st century.

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