Comments By Prof Soo Khee Chee, Director NCCS.
In Response To Media Queries On The New Cancer Centre At The NUH
Sunday, 26 August 2007
The National Cancer Centre Singapore welcomes the setting up of another specialist team at the National University Hospital. We have in the past worked with the NUH and even assisted them professionally when they were setting up their radiotherapy department. Our doctors have also worked on various research collaborations with the NUH team and over the years we have developed a good professional working relationship.
Building the brand
We believe the NUH cancer team will be developing their own brand identity just like the current two separate clusters, namely SingHealth and National Health Group.
On our part, we will continue to build up on our NCCS brand name as a national and regional centre of medical excellence with a strong tradition for research and translational practices.
In the US there is the National Cancer Institute and there are other leading cancer centres operating e.g. the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center in Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina and the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center in Massachusetts.
Going Forward
The role of national centres in Singapore was spelt out on 28 March 1998 by Mr Lee Hsien Loong, who was then the Deputy Prime Minister, when he spoke at the official opening of Changi General Hospital. He said:
“The regional and tertiary hospitals will continue to manage the majority of patients within their capabilities, and refer only the difficult cases to the national centres. The different types of hospitals are meant to collaborate with and complement one another. Specialists with the appropriate qualifications, expertise and experience, no matter where they may be practising, should participate actively in clinical service, training and research activities at the national centres.”
We see the development of the new cancer team at NUH as very positive for Singapore. It augurs well for both the community and the doctors. What it means for us as a national centre is that we will move up the value chain. We will add value to our services for the benefit of all our patients by devoting more efforts to further enhance our expertise. We will also vigorously develop NCCS into a strong regional centre for cancer treatment and expand on our current international collaborations with reputable medical and research institutions.
For the community, the advent of the new NUH cancer team will mean patients can get another source of balanced opinion in the context of multi-disciplinary care.
For further information, please contact:
Sunny Wee
Media & Community Relations Advisor,
Corporate Communications
National Cancer Centre Singapore
Tel. 92746922
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