Thoughtful, structured conversations can play an important role in
providing support for patients facing serious illness.
NUH’s Serious Illness Conversations workshop equips healthcare professionals
with the skills to foster patient-focused care.
Issue 8 | March 2025
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Palliative care is an essential component of modern healthcare, offering relief from the symptoms and emotional burden of life-limiting illnesses. Contrary to common misconceptions, it is not limited to end-of-life care but is relevant at any stage of illness. Supporting patients and families in a holistic manner means attending not only to physical concerns like symptoms, but also to psychosocial, emotional and spiritual concerns. This includes understanding their values and priorities, so that decisions for care and treatment align to what matters most to them. As the healthcare demands in Singapore continue to evolve, the need for structured, timely patient-centred communication in serious illness care has become ever more important.
Patients with serious illness often face profound uncertainty — about their prognosis, treatment options and what the future may hold. Conversations around illness are inherently challenging for a variety of reasons, including cultural sensitivities, a wish to avoid difficult emotions, a desire to maintain hope, and more. Healthcare professionals, too, may hesitate to initiate such conversations, due to lack of time, confidence, and a fear of triggering negative emotions. However, shying away from these discussions can leave patients and their families unprepared for decision making during a medical crisis.
This first SIC workshop at NUH is the result of our impactful collaboration with the Lien Centre for Palliative Care (LCPC) and The Duke–NUS Medical School, and is the first step of our journey to spread SIC training in our hospital and cluster,” shares Adj A/Prof Noreen Chan, Senior Consultant, Division of Palliative Care, National University Cancer Institute, Singapore. “We are grateful to LCPC for sharing their expertise, and to our senior leadership for their support for this important endeavour.”
NUH has taken the initiative to bridge this gap through the introduction of the Serious Illness Conversations (SIC) workshop. It aims to equip healthcare professionals with the skills and confidence needed to engage in meaningful, patient-focused discussions. Central to this workshop is the SIC Guide, a structured tool that offers clinicians a simple step-by-step approach to encourage early discussions about what matters most to patients — whether it is maintaining independence, spending time with loved ones or ensuring comfort. Importantly, the SIC approach facilitates open communication and empowers patients to express their priorities, which in turn helps reduce uncertainty and improve their overall quality of life.
The NUH organised a SIC workshop in February 2025, drawing participants from diverse backgrounds ranging from Paediatrics to Geriatrics, from hospital to community care.
Workshops like these are part of a broader movement in healthcare that recognises the value of proactive, structured conversations in serious illness care. These conversations are best held early and regularly as a part of routine care, and the responsibility of starting and continuing discussions can be a shared effort among healthcare professionals.
In tandem with internal efforts, NUH is also working to expand access to palliative care across different settings. In March 2025, the hospital signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with five insurers and six home care service providers to initiate collaborations aimed at enhancing the availability of supportive and palliative services in the community. One area of focus is facilitating home-based care for terminally ill patients — an option that allows them to spend their final days in familiar surroundings, with professional support and reduced financial burden.
Taken together, these efforts reflect NUH’s ongoing commitment to patient-centred care — one that not only ensures every patient’s voice is heard and their choices respected, but also seeks to optimise the quality of life through accessible, coordinated and compassionate palliative care.
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