One-stop cancer rehab centre to open in Jurong
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong meeting beneficiaries, cancer survivors and their family members
SINGAPORE — What started out as a sharp, fleeting pain in Mr Simon Tan’s lower back turned out to be Stage 1 prostate cancer.
Now 63, Mr Tan recounted his experience in 1999. “There wasn’t a lot of literature on prostate cancer then and the old thinking was, ‘Sure die one.’”
He soon found that there were limited resources and support for cancer patients and he had to turn, instead, to the Internet.
Life for cancer patients like Mr Tan could improve with the launch of a one-stop centre for cancer rehabilitative services, announced by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Singapore Cancer Society’s (SCS) 50th anniversary concert yesterday. Mr Lee also unveiled a S$2 million Cancer Care Fund for low-income patients.
The 7,000 sq ft centre, which opens in September in Jem mall in Jurong, will complement existing hospital rehabilitative services and aid in patients’ recovery, post-discharge. Services include physical therapy, nutrition and dietitian support, counselling services, cancer support group activities, job matching and pastoral care support.
The centre can serve up to 50 patients in physical rehabilitation daily and the SCS will be working with public hospitals and cancer institutions to recruit patients.
Dr Ng Yee Sien, who chairs a joint task force for the S$2 million centre, explained that cancer rehabilitation requires specific skill sets, unlike the broad-based rehabilitative services provided at hospitals and day rehabilitation centres. For instance, fatigue — a common symptom among cancer patients — could arise from the disease, nutritional issues or depression, which therapists may not have been properly trained to address.
The new centre also offers emotional, cognitive and societal aid, beyond the physical therapy that patients can get at existing rehabilitation centres.
A survey conducted by the task force and the National University Hospital (NUH) showed that attitudes towards outpatient cancer rehabilitative services were lukewarm due to cost and transportation woes. To address this, the SCS will charge patients a “nominal fee” and offer transportation services.
Checks with public hospitals revealed that charges for rehabilitative services vary. The National University Cancer Institute, Singapore, charges between S$75 and S$100 for a rehabilitation session, said Dr Effie Chew, a senior consultant at NUH’s Division of Neurology (Rehabilitation Medicine).
Dr Chew added that the new centre would complement existing rehabilitative services in hospitals by providing for “(those) with residual deficits in physical function after treatment, and those seeking reintegration back into the community and work”.
Speaking at the launch of the centre yesterday, Mr Lee said the SCS shows what it means for Singapore to be a democracy of deeds.
“Because it does not matter who you are and what situation you are in, whether you are a cancer survivor or a patient, a family member whose loved one has been struck by cancer, or just someone who wants to make a difference to others, you come together, work together, contribute what you have — it could be your time, your talents or a shoulder for someone to lean on,” said Mr Lee, who is a cancer survivor himself.
