Improving Breakfast Delivery Times at TTSH Integrated Care Hub (ICH)

Year Submitted: 2025
Published Date: 21 February 2026

Tags: Care Process ＆ Redesign, Quality Improvement, Productivity, Build Environment, Operational Management, Logistics Management

About this Content

Aims

This initiative aimed to address delays in breakfast delivery at the TTSH Integrated Care Hub (ICH)

Background

Since ICH began operations in October 2023, patient meals have been provided through existing Tan Tock Seng Hospital kitchen facilities. While this arrangement offered valuable operational insights without requiring immediate full-scale kitchen operations, it revealed some challenges. Breakfast deliveries were delayed due to infrastructure limitations and the considerable distance between the central kitchen and ICH. Although TTSH was able to provide support during the early operational stage, there was a clear need to identify a more sustainable and longer-term solution.

Methods

1. Conducted Go & See at kitchen to map out the current process from food preparation to food delivery.
2. Applied 5-Whys to understand the root cause(s) for delay in breakfast delivery at ICH
3. Brainstorm opportunities pertaining to the identified root causes

Results

The team developed a phased outsourcing approach to immediately address breakfast delays while establishing a foundation for future service expansion. Phase 1 focuses exclusively on breakfast provision during the first year, allowing for thorough evaluation and refinement. Phase 2, planned for implementation after successful Phase 1 operations, would expand to include lunch, dinner, and tea break services, contingent upon meeting established key performance indicators for meal quality, delivery timeliness, food safety, and workplace safety.

Conclusion

This project successfully established a framework for reliable breakfast delivery while creating a pathway for expanded food services. The phased approach allows for careful evaluation and continuous improvement, ensuring that any service expansion maintains high standards for quality, safety, and timeliness.

Lessons Learnt

The project revealed that the existing TTSH kitchen infrastructure lacks the capacity to support comprehensive meal provision for ICH. To ensure sustainable service delivery that can scale with future demand, the team identified the need to evaluate alternative operating models and solutions. Outsourcing emerged as the most viable immediate solution to resolve delivery delays.

Keywords

Kitchen, Meal Delivery, Lean Methodology, Kaizen

Innovators' Details

Connect with this contributor!

Loo Wei Hann - wei.hann.loo@nhghealth.com.sg

Project Attachment