Raj Joshua Thomas on supporting healthcare

Healthcare workers are in a particularly vulnerable position, as their job inherently involves interaction with people who need some form of assistance or attention, or who may even be in distress. Many of them "internalise" that some abuse is to be expected and this often leads to under-reporting. NMP Raj Joshua Thomas, who raised this concern in Parliament on Wednesday (May 10), asked if this is due to the fact that Singapore’s healthcare system is reputed to be one of the best in the world, and whether it has something to do with the quintessential Singaporean aspiration towards efficiency and accountability. He warned that Singapore’s success at being efficient and productive may have turned out to be a “double-edged sword”, because even falling slightly short can lead to backlash or litigation. As such, a key plank of the effort to prevent abuse and protect healthcare workers should be to instil in patients, caregivers and the public that regardless of their frustration with administrative processes or perceived systemic inefficiencies, it is not acceptable to take up these frustrations on workers. He said this goes beyond having mere statutory protections and penalties under the law. Instead, it requires a societal mindset of kindness, instead of entitlement. He urged the authorities to be prepared to prosecute cases of abuse if they are beyond a certain threshold of severity and stressed the need to do the very best to “take care of those who take care of us”.