Success Rate of Professional Conversion Programme

Ms K Thanaletchimi asked the Minister for Health (a) what is the current success rate of the Professional Conversion Programme (PCP) in the placement and retention of individuals who switch from another industry to the healthcare industry; and (b) what is the current success rate of individuals in the healthcare industry who have been able to switch to higher-end jobs through the PCP.

The Minister for Health (Mr Gan Kim Yong): Madam, the Healthcare Professional Conversion Programmes (PCPs) help mid-career Singaporeans to train and make a career switch to the healthcare sector. Today, we have PCPs for conversion to registered and enrolled nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, diagnostic radiographers and dental surgery assistants. The Government provides significant funding for the course fees and allowances during the period of training.

We have admitted more than 400 Singaporeans from non-healthcare sectors into the healthcare conversion programmes since 2009. For the 223 enrolled between 2009 and 2011, 82% completed their training and were successfully placed into a healthcare job. Among those successfully placed, 92% remained in their jobs after the end of the minimum service period.

Our public healthcare institutions also support suitable non-clinical healthcare staff to undergo skills conversion through the PCPs and similar programmes to take on clinical roles. For example, over the last three years, 54 training scholarships and sponsorships were provided for non-clinical in-service staff to convert into clinical roles as nurses and allied health professionals.

We also provide upgrading opportunities for in-services nurses to take on higher end roles. More than 750 enrolled nurses entered our Polytechnic nursing programmes over the last three years to undergo skills training to become registered nurses.

Ms K Thanaletchimi (Nominated Member): Madam, I would like to seek one clarification regarding the PCP programme. Could the Minister share if the programme is standardised across all the institutions or is it very customised to individual institutions, as the career the Minister talked about aligns to all the institutions?

Mr Gan Kim Yong: The bulk of the PCP programme is standardised because they are based on the nursing modules or the specific Allied Health Professional modules. But in each of the PCP, it will also involve on-the-job training. On-the-job training would be catered more specifically for the institutions, in terms of their practices, team-based approach, and so on. There are variations between institutions but the larger part of it is standardised.