Some Singapore hospitals tap technology to save time, reduce manpower and cost
USING TECH TO SAVE TIME
TTSH is among some hospitals here that are saving tens of thousands of man-hours each year by tapping technology, such as automation and robots.
This has helped them to ease the manpower crunch faced by the healthcare sector, and lower operating costs for the hospital.
Meanwhile, Singapore General Hospital (SGH) has introduced a digital instrument tracking system that helps staff ensure surgical supplies are clean and safe for use in operating theatres. With this, staff log and trace equipment instead of using pen and paper.
After a piece of equipment has been cleaned, staff can easily identify what set it belongs to and pack them all together. It has helped the hospital save nearly 2,000 man-hours for this job per month.
Relieved of this tedious task, staff morale is higher as they can now spend their time on higher-value tasks, said the hospital’s deputy director of nursing Goh Meh Meh.
The hospital generates about 25,000 sets of sterile instruments per month, she said.
“It’s quite an uphill task for the staff to maintain. And sometimes in operating rooms, they need an instrument very urgently. So from the system, we are able to track and trace quickly and identify the sets and deliver them in a timely manner to our surgeons.”
