Mr Chew Kim Soon

Mr Chew Kim Soon is a dedicated patient advocate and former caregiver to his late mother, who lived with Parkinson disease and multiple chronic conditions. Drawing on his caregiving journey, he actively partners healthcare professionals and fellow caregivers to improve patient safety, patient experience, and quality of care.

Before retiring, Kim Soon spent more than 33 years in the corporate banking industry, where he held senior roles in relationship management, analytics, and marketing communications. He now applies his professional expertise to strengthen patient engagement and ensure that the patient voice is meaningfully represented in healthcare improvement initiatives.

As Mentor and former Co-Chair of the SingHealth Patient Advocacy Network (SPAN), Kim Soon has championed numerous initiatives that bridge the gap between patients and healthcare professionals. He was instrumental in developing the Plain English Glossary, an initiative that encourages healthcare professionals to communicate in language that patients and caregivers can readily understand, reducing reliance on medical jargon.

He also co-led the landmark survey, "Concerns of Patients and Caregivers through COVID-19," together with fellow patient advocate Josie, presenting the findings to SingHealth senior management to inform improvements in patient care and communication. More recently, he co-led Singapore's first patient-led survey examining partnerships between patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.

Recognised nationally for his contributions, Kim Soon has been invited to present the patient perspective at numerous healthcare platforms, including the Singapore Health Quality Service Awards, the Singapore Health Inspirational Patient & Caregiver Awards, and the Singapore Healthcare Management Congress, where he has also served as a panel judge. He is a frequent guest speaker at onboarding programmes for newly recruited nurses and, together with the SPAN faculty, facilitates interactive workshops for newly promoted nursing leaders on delivering outstanding patient experiences.

Beyond SingHealth, Kim Soon serves on the Patient and Public Involvement Advisory Panel of Precision Health Research, Singapore (PRECISE), contributing the patient perspective to precision medicine research and public involvement initiatives.

Kim Soon graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1986 with a Bachelor of Business Administration and obtained a Diploma in Banking and Finance from the Institute of Banking and Finance in 1989.

Outside his advocacy work, he enjoys hiking, travelling, discovering local cuisines, and reading widely across subjects ranging from healthcare and public policy to history, economics, and technology.