SINGAPORE – When Singapore’s public agencies and healthcare institutions faced manpower shortages during the Covid-19 pandemic, more than 2,000 Singapore Airlines (SIA) Group employees stepped up to serve as front-liners from March 2020.
These included more than 900 cabin crew members, who helped to care for patients in healthcare institutions, such as hospitals, so nurses and other healthcare workers could focus on those who needed more complex care.
Building on this experience, the Ministry of Health (MOH), the Public Service Division (PSD), and SIA Group inked an agreement on Jan 15 to collaborate on manpower planning and deployment for future national crises, they said in a joint statement.
“The trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) strengthens our national collective resilience and agility to respond to future crises,” the statement added.
The three organisations will collaborate by training and deploying cabin crew in support care roles in peacetime, as well as conducting tabletop exercises to put their crisis response protocols to the test, the statement said. Other than working in healthcare, SIA and Scoot employees also served as transport ambassadors, contact tracing executives and social service office processing officers during the pandemic.
SIA chief executive officer Goh Choon Phong said SIA Group worked with MOH and PSD during the pandemic to transition its employees to front-line roles as it had a surplus of manpower while public sector organisations were short of staff.
Mr Goh, who signed the MOU, added: “Almost everyone they met in these jobs praised their warm and caring nature, professionalism and dedication to customer service.
“Being exposed to different types of support roles also benefited our people, who used their experience and new skills to enhance our customer service.”
In April 2020, The Straits Times reported that the first batch of cabin crew, who were temporarily grounded due to cancelled flights during the pandemic, were redeployed to care for patients at Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH).
Some 30 SIA cabin crew members were assigned to low-risk wards and support hospital care teams by carrying out basic caregiving procedures, nutritional care and patient service management.
They were given training in areas such as how to serve meals, basic medical terms, and safety and infection control measures.
KTPH chief nurse Shirley Heng told ST then: “This is also a good opportunity for our nurses to exchange knowledge and skills on service with the crew of SIA, who are top service professionals.”
Following the Jan 15 agreement, the SG Healthcare Corps will facilitate the training and deployment of about 50 SIA and Scoot cabin crew members for a start, the statement said. They will volunteer at KTPH and Changi General Hospital from April.
These SIA Group ambassadors will be a part of about 200 trained SG Healthcare Corps care volunteers who will serve alongside the healthcare workforce to meet the needs of patients, the statement added.
From using monitoring machines to measure vital signs for patients and residents at healthcare institutions, to helping to feed them, SIA Group ambassadors will assist nurses to provide basic and nutritional care and more.
Permanent Secretary for Health Chan Yeng Kit, who signed the MOU on Jan 15, said he hopes other private sector organisations will volunteer in the healthcare ecosystem as well.
Other initiatives to prepare Singapore for another pandemic include the setting up of a new Communicable Diseases Agency, strengthening hospital capacity, as well as boosting pandemic preparedness and response through global surveillance, the statement said.
