SingHealth and West China Hospital signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) yesterday that will see SingHealth provide training for nursing leaders and nurses from Sichuan Province.

The three-year programme is supported by a grant of about S$546,000 from Temasek Foundation and will be conducted by nurse educators and trainers from the SingHealth Alice Lee Institute of Advanced Nursing.

SingHealth Group CEO Prof Ivy Ng said, “SingHealth is privileged to partner West China Hospital to share expertise and knowledge in nursing management, education and evidence-based clinical practice.

"Nurses are a critical part of our healthcare systems and this mutually beneficial collaboration enables both our healthcare organisations to nurture strong and sustainable pipelines of skilled nursing professionals to serve our respective countries.”

During the course of training at West China Hospital, 600 nursing leaders and nurses will be trained in clinical specialties as well as healthcare management, patient safety, infection control and medication management.

88 participants will be selected as specialist master trainers and receive further two-week training at SingHealth institutions in Singapore. They will go on to train 880 more nurses in China, multiplying the benefits of the programme.

West China Hospital is part of the West China Medical Center of Sichuan University, one of the leading medical centres in the country. The Hospital is staffed by over 7,800 healthcare professionals across 38 clinical departments.

Training for the first batch of participants will begin in June 2016.