Healthcare Humanity Awards (HHA) 2018- Dr Linus Chua, Registrar, St Luke’s Hospital

I have been working at St Luke’s Hospital (SLH) for two and a half years, helping to take care of patients with dementia, wound care patients and post-discharge patients.

What is special about my work is the privilege to be able to walk with my patients through the difficult times of their lives. Many of my patients are admitted for acute deterioration in function arising from, for example, stroke, fracture and amputation.

Patients often receive plenty of information when they are at the tertiary hospitals. Their short stay gives them and their relatives little time to process things. When the patients are admitted to SLH, they tend to stay for about a month and have more time to reflect upon their new functional state as they recover.
I get to address their questions (often medical, social and even existential in nature) and journey with them through this challenging but critical time of coming to terms with their illnesses. I'm also inspired by the courage and resilience displayed by each of my patients in overcoming their disabilities, to live on and live well.

One memorable experience for me is to see how a patient climbed out of depression, through a mix of clinical and social care such as encouraging environment and social support. The extra care and warmth of the clinical care team (often going the extra mile) helped her to overcome her depression and carry on with life.