Guidelines for home-, centre-based care put up for public feedback

SINGAPORE — Draft guidelines, one set each for those providing home care and those providing centre-based care services — such as day care and rehabilitation centres — have been put up for public consultation, as part of ongoing efforts to raise the quality of care in the intermediate and long-term care sector.

These span from the operational aspect of care — such as spelling out the type of training a home-care nurse should have — to the philosophical, such as urging service providers to protect patients’ dignity when caring for them.

The Ministry of Health (MOH) said the guidelines are meant to be developmental in nature, to serve as a basis for training and capability enhancement programmes for providers of home and community care. Two committees, which included service providers, healthcare professionals and policy experts, drafted the guidelines for each sector.

The MOH also noted the importance of such services, which it said support seniors who want to age at home and provide access to health, social and personal care services in the community.

The ministry first announced it was drawing up guidelines for home care as part of the Home Care Development Plan during its Committee of Supply debate in March.

The guidelines come after the ministry unveiled its Enhanced Nursing Home Standards in January, which will take effect next year, with homes to be given a one-year grace period before the standards are enforced in 2016.

Under the draft guidelines, those providing home care — that which is provided for a person in his or her own home — should plan and coordinate care that could involve the services of other providers, such as those providing social or palliative care services.

It also spelled out guidelines for critical areas of care with clinical and safety implications. For instance, since home-care clients tend to be less ambulant and hence are at risk of developing pressure ulcers, the guidelines set out how a provider can assess and prevent the condition.

For centre-based care, the draft guidelines highlighted the importance of transport services to ensure that clients have access to such care.

Mr Christopher Ng, manager of the Day Rehabilitation Centre at Ren Ci Hospital, said these guidelines would be useful, particularly for service providers that are new.

Mr Kavin Seow, director of home care and caregiver support at TOUCH Community Services, felt the guidelines were a good start, but that it was too early to pinpoint what sort of improvements can be made to the draft.

Mr Seow, who sat on the committee that developed these guidelines, also noted these guidelines are not laws and are there to encourage providers to deliver better quality of care.

Retiree Jenny Tan, who uses the home-care services offered by Thye Hua Kwan Moral Charities, felt the guidelines could better articulate what service providers should offer. By spelling out clearer guidelines for emergency situations, for instance, home-care staff providing social care services would be able to take her mother to the hospital or a nearby clinic, the 60-year-old said.

The public consultation will close on Oct 2 and the finalised set of guidelines is expected to be ready by the end of the year.