ILTC Excellence Awards 2016
FAQ – SERVICE QUALITY AWARDS
 Service Quality – Gold Award
 Service Quality – Silver Award
Criteria
1)
What are the qualifying criteria for the Service Quality – Gold Award and
Service Quality – Silver Award?
Nominees must meet all the following criteria within the qualifying period (1 January
2014 to 31 December 2015):
Evaluation Criteria
Length of Service
Gold Award
At least two
years
Silver Award
None
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External*/ Internal
Service Quality (SQ)
Awards Won
At least three
awards
At least one
award
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(CEO/ HOD
recommendation
letter can be used
as a substitute)
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External*
Compliments
Received
At least four
written
compliments
At least two
written
compliments
(CEO/ HOD
recommendation
letter can be used
as a substitute)

Remarks
Permanent, seconded,
and contract staff on full
or part-time (≥0.5FTE)
employment with the
nominating organisation
Must be still employed
by the nominating
organisation at the point
of receiving the Award
Examples of external SQ
awards* may include
Nurses Merit Awards,
Singhealth Service
Quality Award, Awards
for specific projects
related to SQ
improvement
Examples of internal
awards may include
employee and nurse of
the month/year awards
given by the organisation
Read the FAQs for
examples
External compliments
refer to written
compliments from
patients, caregivers and
other partners (e.g.
suppliers)
At least one completed QI project
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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Quality Improvement
(QI) Initiatives
Participated In
Read the FAQs for the award criteria details.
*The secretariat reserves the right to assess the eligibility of the external compliments and
recognitions, and to request for more information to support the nomination where necessary.
Criteria – Length of service
2)
What categories of staff qualify for this Award?
Nominees have to be confirmed staff, i.e. completed job probation as of 31
December 2015, under either full-time or part-time employment at the nominating
organisation.
They also have to be in continued employment with their organisation at the point of
receipt of the Award.
3)
Do seconded and contract staff qualify?
Seconded and contract staff are also eligible for nomination. However, they need to
be on the nominating organisation’s payroll and have a minimum service period of
six months.
For example, Visiting Consultants could be nominated for the Silver Award if they
have a service period of six months or more, and are on the organisation’s payroll.
For seconded staff, nominations will be evaluated case-by-case, based on their
contribution to the organisation and its clients.
4)
How is length of service calculated?
Length of service is the duration starting from the day the nominee joins the
nominating organisation until the cut-off date of 31 December 2015.
For example, a staff that joined the nominating organisation on 31 December 2013
would have a service period of two years, and would be eligible for the Service
Quality Awards.
5)
Who do ‘Allied Health staff’ refer to?
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Audiologists
Dieticians
Medical Social Workers and Assistants
Occupational Therapists and Assistants
Pharmacists and Pharmacy Assistants
Physiotherapists and Assistants
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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Podiatrists and Podiatry Assistants
Psychologists
Respiratory Therapists
Radiographers
Speech Therapists
Criteria – External/ Internal Service Quality (SQ) Awards
6)
What are Internal and External SQ Awards?
Internal Awards
External Awards*
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Department/ Division/ Organisation
Employee of Month/ Year
SQ Awards
Organisation Service Excellence Awards
Now also accepted:
 Awards for internal projects that have
been completed with the objective of
improving client satisfaction. For
instance, SQ project awards received
during “Quality Week”.
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Health Care Humanity Award
Nurses Merit Award
Outstanding Social Worker Award
President Nurses Award
President’s Award for Philanthropy
President’s Special Recognition Award
President's Social Service Award
Promising Social Worker Award
PS21 Star Service Award
Singapore National Day Awards
Singapore Service Excellence
Medallion
SingHealth Service Quality Award
(SHSQA)
Spring EXSA Awards
Tan Chin Tuan Enrolled Nurses Award
The Singapore HR Awards
Now also accepted:
 Awards for projects that have been
completed with the objective of
improving client satisfaction. For
instance, an ILTC Quality Poster
Competition project on improving
patient experience by reducing
unnecessary waiting time in clinic.
* This is a non-exhaustive list. The secretariat reserves the right to assess the eligibility of the external
recognitions and to request for more information to support the nomination, where necessary.
7)
Are long service awards considered SQ Awards?
Long service awards are awarded in recognition for a staff’s service to an
organisation. As such, they are not considered awards or recognition for service
quality.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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8)
Can the same SQ project be counted towards both the criteria of ‘external
and internal SQ awards’ and the ‘participation in QI initiatives’?
Yes. This is provided the nominee was listed as a team member in the QI project
that had won the award.
9)
Can ILTC Excellence Awards (Service Quality) received last year be
counted towards the criteria of ‘one service quality related award’ for this
year’s nomination?
No “stacking” of ILTC Excellence Awards is allowed. We encourage the recognition
of consistent service excellence through participation in other internal and external
service-related awards.
Criteria – External Compliments
10) What are considered External Compliments?
They include:
a) Letters from clients/ patients/ residents, caregivers and other external
stakeholders addressed specifically to the staff
b) Thank you cards/ email/ letters addressed specifically to the staff
c) Compliments given during feedback surveys addressed specifically to the
staff
d) For verbal compliments, please refer to Question 12
11) Are generic compliments (e.g. to an entire ward and not specifically
addressed to the nominee) accepted?
They will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
12) Are verbal compliments accepted?
Yes, verbal compliments may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. This is relevant
for staff who regularly receive verbal compliments from clients and/or their next-ofkin, but are unable to document them.
In such instances, Reporting Officers (RO)/ Head of Departments (HOD)/ CEOs can
describe the compliment(s) (by whom, when and why the compliment was made)
under the ‘Recommendation and other information’ column of the nomination form
for consideration.
13) Are compliments received for conducting training courses accepted?
Mass solicited feedback (e.g. course feedback) are not accepted unless on an
exceptional and case-by-case basis.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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14) I have backroom support staff who do not receive many external
compliments nor awards. However they are vital in the service quality
chain, enabling the front liners to provide quality service and care. How
can they qualify?
Backroom support staff can now qualify for the Service Quality (Silver) award. They
can replace one of the two required external compliments using an SQ related
project that has been awarded for improving service quality and client satisfaction.
The nominee has to be listed as a team member in the awarded project. The same
awarded project cannot used to meet the External / Internal Service Quality Award
criteria.
They will still be required to provide one other external compliment.
Community Care providers are highly encouraged to involve support staff in such
improvement projects as each and every staff has a role to play in enhancing the
service experience and care for their clients.
Criteria – Quality Improvement (QI) Initiatives
15) What is considered a Quality Improvement (QI) project?
QI Projects are those that identify areas where improvements can be made and
adopt methodologies in the review of the problem and implementation of the project.
Some common method/ techniques used in quality improvement projects include:
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PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle)
Lean and Six Sigma
Fish-bone diagrams, Pareto charts, flowcharts, etc.
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Business Process Reengineering (BPR)
* Note: This is a non-exhaustive list.
Others – Recommendations/ Nominations
16) What forms of recommendation letters are accepted?
A formal recommendation letter, signed off by the nominee’s RO, HOD or CEO is
accepted. Alternatively, the recommendation can be included within the
‘Recommendation and other information’ section on page 3 of the nomination form
(to be signed off as well).
The recommendation should clearly explain the exemplary performance and
qualities of the nominee, supported by illustrative examples.
17) For multiple nominees: Are single recommendation letters stating generic
support and recommendation for all of them as a group accepted?
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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No. It is vital for the selection panel to ascertain whether the individual nominees
have been exemplary in service. As such, additional information to support each
nominee must be provided.
This additional information may be in the form of individual recommendation letters,
or supplied under “Other information” in the nomination form.
18) Are there exceptions for outstanding nominees (e.g. those with a high
number of external compliments) who do not fulfil one or more of the
other criteria (e.g. QI projects)?
For the Service Quality Awards, all stated criteria must be fulfilled. However, on a
case-by-case basis, the selection panel reserves the right to award deserving and
exceptional nominees who may not strictly meet all the criteria.
19) Can co-workers make the award nomination?
No, the Individual Service Quality Awards should be endorsed by the nominee’s RO
and CEO. However, co-workers may certainly recommend the nominee for his or her
RO’s consideration and support.
20) Can staff still be nominated should the nominee’s RO be away during the
closing stages of the nomination period?
Yes. In lieu of the RO’s endorsement, an endorsement by the RO’s covering officer,
HOD or a Senior Management Member would still be accepted.
21) What do Reporting Officer (RO) and CEO endorsements mean?
The nominee’s RO and organisation’s CEO must endorse the nomination to ensure
its completeness before submission.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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ILTC Excellence Awards 2016
FAQ – GOOD SUGGESTION AWARD
1) What are the qualifying criteria for the Good Suggestion Award?
Evaluation Criteria
Originality and How original and relevant the idea is for the Community Care
creativity
sector
Improvement
How the suggestion created new processes or improved existing
processes within the organisation
Sustainability
How sustainable the suggestion / improvement would be in the
long run
2) Must the suggestion be implemented before it can be considered for the
Good Suggestion Award?
Yes. The suggestion must have been implemented in order to gauge the
effectiveness of project and whether the intended outcome was achieved.
3) Can a nomination that contains more than one suggestion per staff be
submitted for the Good Suggestion Award?
Yes. There is no cap on the number of suggestions per staff that can be submitted
for the nomination. However, all suggestions must be implemented and endorsed by
the organisation.
4) Can a nomination naming more than one person (i.e. team nominations) be
submitted for the Good Suggestion Award?
Only on a case-by-case basis. The Good Suggestion Award category is primarily
intended to recognise individuals for their efforts in making improvements that
contribute to enhancing the clients’ service experience.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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ILTC Excellence Awards 2016
FAQ – GOOD SUGGESTION AWARD
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Clinical Quality Improvement Award
Service Quality Improvement Award
Productivity and Innovation Award
Criteria
1) What are the qualifying criteria for the Team Awards?
Clinical Quality
Improvement
Award
Criteria
Five
Common Criteria
Specific Criteria
Improvements in
clinical care
processes and
outcomes
Service Quality
Improvement
Award
Originality
Project methodology
Outcomes
Sustainability
Learning values
Improvements in
service
processes resulting
in improved
satisfaction levels
Productivity and
Innovation Award
Productivity and
innovation impact
2) What is the difference between the common and specific criteria?
While all projects will be assessed on the five common criteria, each Award category
will additionally assess the respective projects on criteria specific to that category.
Clinical Quality Improvement (QI) Award
3) How are projects evaluated for the Clinical QI Award?
Projects in this category are evaluated based on how effective their improvements to
their clinical care processes have been for staff, patients, residents and/or clients. It
also evaluates the impact of the improvements in clinical outcomes for patients,
residents and/or clients.
They are evaluated on the key attributes of safety, effectiveness, efficiency,
timeliness and patient-centredness.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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Service Quality Improvement (QI) Award
4) What constitutes a Service QI project?
Service QI is an achievement in the area of customer service, i.e. meeting and
exceeding clients’ or caregivers’ expectations with the way service was delivered to
them. The outcome is an improvement in the experience and satisfaction of the
clients.
Projects could include understanding and improving existing processes or
establishing performance measures to track satisfaction and outcome. Examples
may include:
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Improving and streamlining the admission process for patients (external clients)
Improving meal satisfaction of patients/ residents (external clients)
Improving and streamlining human resource processes for staff (internal clients)
Reducing response time for facilities and management teams (internal clients)
5) How are projects evaluated for the Service QI Award?
Projects in this category are evaluated based on how effective their service process
improvements have been for staff, patients, residents, clients, caregivers, volunteers
and/or other partners. They are also evaluated on how the improvements influence
internal and/or external clients’ satisfaction and experiences.
Key attributes considered in the evaluation process include timeliness, informativeness, convenience, patient-centred care and efficiency.
6) My project seems to be a mix between the Clinical and Service QI
categories. How should I select the correct category?
This depends on your project’s objective and outcome from the client’s perspective.
For instance, if the project aims to improve service quality by reducing patient waiting
time through technology as one of the interventions, the Service Quality category
would be more appropriate.
You may wish to contact us via email at excellence.awards@aic.sg or call 6603 6800
if you need any clarification.
Productivity and Innovation Award
7) How are projects evaluated for the Innovation and Productivity Award?
They are evaluated based on their productivity and innovation impact.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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Productivity impact is evaluated using an input (e.g. labour, resources) and output
(e.g. services, quality of care) analysis. This is because evaluating output alone is
insufficient to measure and indicate productivity. Improved productivity results when
the following input-output relationships are achieved.
Higher output
from the same
inputs
Higher output
with less inputs
(ideal)
Similar output
with less inputs
Input Unchanged
−
Input Decreased
↓
Input Decreased
↓
Output Increased
↑
Output Unchanged
−
Output Increased
↑
Innovation impact is evaluated by the innovation’s originality and relevance to the
Community Care sector as well as its relation to improving the quality of care.
Others – Nominations
8) Who can nominate projects for the Team Awards?
Any team member in the project can nominate their projects for the award with the
consent of the team leader and other team members. All Team Award nominations
must be endorsed by the organisation.
9) Is there a limit to the number of members per QI project team?
We welcome nominations of up to 10 team members per QI project. We will review
team member composition on a case-by-case basis for teams that have more than
10 members.
Please contact excellence.awards@aic.sg for any enquiries
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