We thank Mr Chan Whye Shiung for his letter, "Do IMH nurses need more support for their roles?" (March 22), which raised concerns about the level of support for nurses taking care of patients.

The Healthcare Services Employees' Union agrees with Mr Chan that we need to know the root cause of incidents that happen while caring for Institute of Mental Health (IMH) patients, so that we can prevent the problem from happening again, as slapping a patient is never the right course of action.

Our healthcare workers do their best at their jobs, which are demanding and stressful, even more so due to the shortage of healthcare workers during the pandemic. Many of them are experiencing stress or burnout, and they need support.

All public healthcare institutions have some form of help for staff who are distressed, but the level of help varies.

More can be done to make help more accessible to healthcare workers. For instance, having help buttons located at patient care areas, giving staff portable devices to alert security should they encounter any abuse or providing troubled nurses and other healthcare workers with a 24-hour helpline that offers professional psychological and emotional support.

There is also a need to de-stigmatise the act of seeking help, to encourage more staff to come forward without worrying about potential judgment or looking "weak" at work.

To this end, the National University Health System cluster has done well in promoting mental well-being and wellness among staff and has rolled out several initiatives.

These include a programme that engages external professionals to provide counselling services.

As staff could seek help anonymously through this service, they no longer had to be afraid of the stigma that comes with seeking help for mental health and stepped forward readily.

However, more awareness is needed of the importance of mental well-being and avenues to seek help. Healthcare staff should have an environment where there are trained peer buddies who can support them.

The union has been working with IMH management and hopes to do more to care for our nurses, understand their plight and understand the root cause when incidents happen, instead of imposing premature judgment.

K. Thanaletchimi

President

Healthcare Services Employees' Union