After a Covid-19 cluster emerged at Tan Tock Seng Hospital last month, the hospital quickly set up a dedicated team to care for the well-being of staff under quarantine, among other measures to provide support to its staff. (ST PHOTO)
The Straits Times (18 May 2021)
Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) has stepped up efforts to provide support to staff, who have been under pressure to contain the Covid-19 outbreak at the hospital.
These include forming a support team for patients and staff who had to be quarantined, mobilising trained welfare officers, and conducting workshops and online learning modules to promote mental health among the staff.
The TTSH cluster emerged after a nurse tested positive for Covid-19 last month. This is Singapore’s first hospital cluster.
Associate Professor Habeebul Rahman, chairman of the hospital’s well-being committee, said one of the biggest challenges when news of the cluster broke was being separated from the approximately 1,000 staff who were quarantined.
TACKLING MANPOWER LOSS
We had to deal with a significant loss of manpower, and needed to shuffle (staff) around to ensure patient care was managed, while keeping up the morale of staff who were under quarantine order. When your own staff and friends are suddenly affected by something unknown, it can hit home quite strongly. ’’
- ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HABEEBUL RAHMAN, chairman of the hospital’s well-being committee.
A dedicated team was quickly formed to care for the well-being of staff under quarantine, by directing them to helplines for emotional support and retrieving items for staff at quarantine facilities.
Prof Habeebul said the hospital was in a better position to respond to the cluster after dealing with the pandemic for over a year.
“It felt like a confident crisis response.” For instance, welfare officers have been appointed in each department over the last year to look after staff well-being.
An app named BotMD has also been available since March last year for staff to access mental health modules, where they can plot their mood graphs and chat with a bot to navigate feelings of distress.
The staff themselves have come up with ways to boost morale.
Prof Habeebul said a group of nurses under quarantine had come together online for activities such as zumba over Zoom and virtual Mother’s Day celebrations.
Beyond mental health, TTSH has worked to support staff who have had trouble finding a place to stay. With help from the Health Ministry, the hospital has partnered hotels to provide alternative accommodation for staff, with the costs supported by TTSH, said Mr Dominic Tung, the hospital’s assistant director for human resource wellness.
Mr Tung said Grab has come forward to offer an on-demand service, known as GrabCare, to ferry staff to and from TTSH with the guarantee that bookings would not be cancelled.
There have been about 1,600 sign-ups for it so far. This comes amid reports of TTSH staff being shunned by members of the public and denied services.
“We recognise that there may be initial fear among members of the public or service providers... We take these risks and reactions in our stride,” said Mr Tung.
But there have also been efforts from the community to show appreciation for TTSH staff. Central Singapore Community Development Council and bubble tea brand Gong Cha are giving all 12,000 TTSH staff appreciation packs that include a free drink voucher from Gong Cha. Ride-hailing service Gojek will also distribute ride vouchers worth $10 each to hospital staff.
Prof Habeebul said: “I think what was truly heartwarming for us was that very quickly, other members of the public came in to offer their support and the next thing we know, we’ve got goodwill pouring in. Letting (TTSH staff) know that the rest of the country was behind them was very helpful.”