Hosted by the hospital's senior management, participants were given an overview of how the hospital operates. Hailing from the Residents' Committees (RC) and Citizen Consultative Committees (CCC) of the Northeast and Marine Parade districts, the participants, who were mostly Committee Chairmen, learnt more about our services and quality management services.

Mr T K Udairam, CEO of Changi General Hospital, said: "We decided to start these dialogues as part of the hospital's campaign to address misconceptions and inform the community about the hospital's services, programmes and quality management efforts. Our staff had been working hard on these areas, and we should inform the community how we are working to help them."

During these dialogues, our Chairman of Medical Board, A/Prof Fock Kwong Ming and our Medical Social Services Manager, Ms Goh Soon Noi, with other departmental chiefs and doctors interacted with the participants. Several of our staff who are also active in grassroots activities were present.

Qn: What are your specialities and what are some new services that have been introduced?
Ans: Some specialities that CGH has introduced include Dermatology and Neurosurgery. Visiting consultants are brought in to provide these new services

Qn: What sort of social services are available for CGH patients?
Ans: CGH's Medical Social Service Department has a range of services in place. The team of social workers help counsel elderly patients, patients with terminal diseases as well as victims of abuse. The social workers also help find nursing facilities and provide financial counselling for needy patients.

Qn: Do private patients receive different care from subsidised patients?
Ans: Both private and subsidised patients get to consult the same pool of doctors The hospital will assign the appropriate doctor to the patient, depending on his condition. For example, a patient with a heart condition will be seen by a heart specialist regardless of which class he stays in.