Patient Care Centre

About us

The Patient Care Centre (PCC) is located within the grounds of the Communicable Disease Centre. It is a programme under the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Charity Fund.

The PCC is a community-based hospital project first established in 1997 to assist with looking after the needs of patients with HIV/AIDS, most of whom have little education and no/little work opportunities in the community. It serves as the link between society and patients – helping patients to resolve problems of stigma and discrimination by providing peer support and interaction with volunteers and healthcare workers. The aim is to regain their self-confidence and self-esteem.

At present, the PCC has a number of programmes and activities which are aimed at providing them with skills that they can utilize when they are well enough to be reintegrated back into society.

PCC is also strongly supported by various groups of dedicated volunteers who assist by running the various support group initiatives.

Nutritional Programme-Distribution of Food Rations

The programme helps low income families and its primary objective is to provide basic food items to build up patient’s health and body weight through adequate nutrition.

Regular sponsorship of dried food rations like rice, milk, cooking oil, biscuits, packet noodles etc, mainly by religious organizations and individuals ensures that needy and cash-strapped patients with HIV/AIDS receive a monthly supply of basic necessities without having to fork out any more money to care for themselves and their family members.

This programme also offers free lunch to about 30 inpatients, day care patients, SPW members and walk-in patients from Monday to Friday. Patients for this programme are selected by our medical social workers.

Anti-retroviral Therapy Subsidy and Resource Utilisation Programme (ARTSRUP)

A medical subsidy of about $390 per patient per month is provided under this programme. The average cost of combination anti-HIV medications at our pharmacy is about $1,000 per month.

This programme aims to support economically active patients to buy anti-HIV medications from the CDC Pharmacy, especially those with dependants. These patients are likely to have good clinical outcomes with treatment.

Patients’ eligibility is reviewed on a yearly basis.

Non-Standard Drug Subsidy Programme

This fund is used to provide subsidy for expensive, non-standard, non-HIV drugs and viral load blood test to patients. The non-standard medications that include expensive drugs viz. Folinic Acid, Pentamidine, Clarithromycin, etc. are drugs used to treat and prevent opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS. The viral load test is a blood investigation to assess the efficacy of anti-retroviral drugs.

Family Life Fund

The Family Life Fund is a needy patient program that centres on helping HIV/AIDS affected families, in particular children-related areas:

• Prevent / reduce transmission of the disease to unborn children through helping HIV/AIDS infected mothers with necessary medication and tests. Treatment course runs up to 6 months for each woman. In most cases, these women come from low-income families.
• Provide nutrition for children in HIV/AIDS affected families and assisting with living expenses especially in times of crises when the breadwinners are not able to work. In such times, it is often the children who suffer most – the families barely have enough to eat, let alone nutritious food or milk powder for the kids.

World Vision Singapore One Life Fund

Many young lives are destroyed by HIV and AIDS in a multitude of ways. Some children are orphaned when one or both parents succumb to the disease, some are infected with the disease themselves while others suffer as a result of their parent’s lost income or significant additional financial burden due to costly medications. We believe education will enable every child to reach his or her full potential.

The World Vision Singapore One Life Fund provides bursaries to children and youths (including orphans) infected/affected with HIV/AIDS. These bursaries would be available for pre-school up to undergraduate level.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the bursary, the applicant must fulfil each of the following criteria:

• The applicant must be aged between 2 to 25 years
• The applicant must be
• a child or youth who is HIV positive, or
• a child or youth who is HIV negative with one or both parents (alive or deceased) being HIV positive
• The applicant must be Singaporean Citizens or Permanent Residents
• The applicant must be enrolled in a full-time registered/accredited educational programme

Conditions of Bursary

The qualifying items of expenditure for support under the bursary would be school fees, tuition fees, purchase of textbooks and uniforms, as well as allowance for personal expenses such as transportation and meals.

Each award will be subjected to fund availability, eligibility criteria, annual performance reviews, positive recommendation by the medical social worker and if the applicant is currently schooling. The applicant’s family or guardian would be required to provide supporting documents when requested.

Quantum of Bursary

Volunteer Training Programme

The PCC presently boasts a strong team of regular volunteers from a wide spectrum of organisations including various religious groups to non-governmental organisations.

A rostered schedule ensures that a regular stream of trained volunteers provides the crucial support that inpatients require from Mondays to Saturdays every week.

The PCC also organises a Volunteer Training Programme annually to equip new volunteers with both theoretical and practical knowledge in caring for patients with HIV/Aids. Hospital policies and procedures such as Infection Control procedures are taught as part of the training requirement. All volunteers undergo a three-hour weekly training, stretched over four Saturdays.

Women and Family Programme

TTSH medical social workers conduct four educational activities yearly for female patients. These activities include talks on skincare and nutrition as well as handicraft sessions.

The PCC also conducts counselling sessions for its female patient workers.

The Fine Print Library

The PCC Fine Print Library was initiated by the Singapore American Women’s Association (AWA) with the objective of aiding the centre through the sale of second hand books.

The Library has a wide variety of fiction and movie books available including ‘Under the Tuscan Sun’, ‘The English Patient’, ‘Indiana Jones and the Secret of Sphinx’, ‘House of Sand and Fog’, ’Green Mile’ and many more. There is definitely a book for everyone.

These second hand books are in good condition. The proceeds from the sale of these books go to the running of the PCC. Books donated by expatriates and members of the AWA are sold at $2, $5 and $10. The Library is open on weekdays from 8.30am to 3.00pm.

Do come by for a good read and support a good cause.

How You Can Help

• Support the PCC with one-time or regular donations to PCC programmes which are administered under the Tan Tock Seng Hospital Community Charity Fund. You may also choose a programme that you want to support though we would prefer a general donation.
• All donations received will be channelled to the programmes highlighted above.
• All outright monetary donations are tax exempted. We will issue receipts for monetary donations received.
• Conduct life skill training (for e.g. handicraft, retail and mechanic workshops etc) and education for our patient workers
• Provide employment opportunities for patients
• Donate dried food rations (e.g. canned foods, milk powder, rice, etc) to patients

Contacts

The PCC-Coordinator

Communicable Disease Centre 1, Patient Care Centre Blk 811, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, 11 Jalan Tan Tock Seng, Singapore 308433

Tel : 6357 7949

Email : gina_he_quek@ttsh.com.sg