Current Trends in Healthcare

Go Green in Healthcare

With growing interest and commitment to 'greening' healthcare, we have consolidated an expanding collection of projects & events that captures some of the incredible strides being made in integrating environmental sustainability into healthcare. Take a read at the stories below, and gain some inspiration from the Green Champions in Healthcare!

What Public Healthcare Clusters are doing for Sustainability

Curious to know how Public Healthcare Clusters across Singapore are working towards a Sustainable Healthcare?

Read an overview of completed and ongoing sustainability projects undertaken in National Healthcare Group (NHG), National University Health System (NUHS) and Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) below, shared with Minister Grace Fu, Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, during Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI)'s annual healthcare innovation conference - CHI INNOVATE 2024!

Overview of Sustainability Projects undertaken in National Healthcare Group (NHG), National University Health System (NUHS) & Singapore Health Services (SingHealth)

1. Through infrastructural adjustments, practicing of '3Rs' - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle in clinical settings, and inculcating a culture of green healthcare, National Healthcare Group (NHG) has showed how sustainability is becoming an integral part of their healthcare operations.

2. By adopting a Whole-of-System Approach such as enhancing energy efficiency, promoting healthcare circular economy and practicising green and good care, National University Health System (NUHS) has pledged a target of 25% reduction in emissions for Scope 1, 2 & 3^ by 2030.

^As defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol

3. Committed to sustainability as a way of life, Singapore Health Services (SingHealth) shared their Environmental Sustainability Decarbonisation Plans moving forward, which includes incorporation of eco-friendly practices & processes into healthcare delivery and supply chain, as well as building a culture of sustainability.

Projects & Events

1. CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024

With the aim of tackling pressing sustainability challenges within healthcare industry, the Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI) and Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) jointly ran the inaugural Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024 to select solutions that are immediately actionable, designed to be readily test-bedded, implemented and adopted by Singapore's Public Healthcare Institutions.

Supported by National Youth Council (NYC) & Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD), CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024 saw a total of 9 Semi-Finalists, 5 Finalists & 3 eventual winners.

Read their Pitch Decks below!

Finalists of CHI x SIT Innovation Challenge 2024

1. By piloting the matchmaking of donated unused medications with suitable patients who are willing to use them, 'PRIME_MedMatch: Project to Reduce the Impact of Medication wastage on Environment in Community Care (PRIME) - Matching Donors with Recipients to Reduce Medication wastage (MedMatch)' aims to reduce carbon footprint from pharmaceuticals, promote health equity and access to healthcare, as well as reduce healthcare costs for those in need. Led by a multidisciplinary tripartite team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), National University Hospital (NUH) & KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH), this project had achieved 5 successful matches and over $3000 in cost savings from donated medications during their pilot study. [Winner of CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024]

2. With the aim of achieving zero production waste of cytotoxic drugs, the team from National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) & OVEC Global presented the 'Algorithm-Driven Optimization for Sustainable Cytotoxic Drug Compounding in Healthcare', an AI driven SMART calculator to perfect the selection of drugs for robotic compounding. Coupled with a dashboard with interactive real-time data visualization, the 9-month pilot project recorded over 2,000mg of drug wastage amounting more than $2,000, with the potential of achieving cost savings of at least $5.24 million per year for NCCS. [Winner of CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024]

3. Through repurposing used uniforms, reducing uniform consumption and developing sustainable uniforms, the team from National Cancer Centre Singapore (NCCS) presented 'Weaving Challenges into Sustainable Uniforms' with the aims of utilizing uniforms with 100% recycled PET (rPET) and environmental outcomes such as 62% reduction in carbon dioxide release, potentially reaping economic savings of up to $540,000 annually. [Winner of CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024]

4. With the goal of enhancing plastic recycling rates in TTSH ICUs through 'Healthcare segregation of healthcare waste in ICU', the team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) found through a pilot study that staff are engaged and willing to segregate plastics from waste, highlighting the potential for expansion and upscaling of the recycling efforts by increasing the ease of waste segregation, involving relevant stakeholders, and engaging community partners. [Audience's Choice Awardee in CHI x SIT Healthcare Sustainability Innovation Challenge 2024]

5. Through a visual walkthrough to identify opportunities for waste reduction and working with industrial partners to operationalize recycling and waste circularity, 'Eye can Recycle' led by a multidisciplinary team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Plaspulp Union, ReThinkGood & Semula Asia would use over 700kg less single-use consumables and recycle more than 2,000 kg of waste each year, leading to cost savings of at least $2,000 and reduction in carbon footprint of over 2,000kg in CO2e - equivalent to carbon dioxide absorbed by 93 trees annually.

Semi-Finalists of CHI x SIT Innovation Challenge 2024

1. By embracing environmentally-friendly practices and leveraging technology such as Internet-of-Things (IoT) and sensors to eliminate non-beneficial electricity usage, 'Forever Onz' by National Healthcare Group Diagnostics (NHGS) & NTUC Health achieved electrical savings of over 11kWh per day from reduction of "Forever on' devices and optimisation of electricity usage from fridges and biological safety cabinets.

2. Through developing a dashboard that showcases carbon emissions and other environmental statistics, the project 'Sustainable Healthcare: Educating Sustainable Procurement and Eco-Friendly Supply Chain Decisions' by ALPS empowers players in the healthcare industry to make informed decisions on sustainability, promote adherance to eco-friendly practices, and foster a more sustainable healthcare ecosystem.

3. Currently, more than 60,000 repackaged medication boxes are dispensed each month at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH)'s Pharmacy, contributing to more than 1,000kg of landfill waste annually. By developing 'Eco-Medbox', a standardized recyclable medication packaging made of recycled materials and in-built with the necessary label and film window for patients, this project by the Pharmacy team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) aims to foster a circular economy and green citizenry, coupled with potential annual cost savings of up to $100,000 from increased productive and decreased production cost.

4. By implementing RFID tracking system on clinical consumables, the project 'EcoEye' formed by a multidisciplinary team from Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), Zevero & Cadi Scientific aims to reduce expired clinical consumable waste such as vacutainers, which could amount to annual cost savings of over $30,000 for vacutainers alone.

2. CHI x TTSH x NUS: The Sustainable Hospital Playbook

A tripartite collaboration between Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), The Sustainable Hospital Playbook details various creative approaches to promote sustainable actions within our healthcare system along with the impact of each proposed interventions, with the aim of inspiring healthcare practitioners to leverage simple design opportunities for more sustainable daily practices.

Gain inspiration from their creative journey and insights below!

The Sustainable Hospital Playbook by Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI), Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) and National University of Singapore (NUS)

Over a 4 months collaborative journey from August to November 2024, CHI's Kaizen Office and 21 Industrial Design students from NUS collaborated with staff from the Endoscopy Centre, Inpatient Wards, Care & Counselling Department, Community Health Team and Kitchen to create feasible, low-cost solutions from a ground-up perspective, consolidated in The Sustainable Hospital Playbook.

Learn from beyond Singapore

For more healthcare sustainability projects done in the UK, learn from the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare through their Sustainable Projects Resource Library, or the Green Team Competition.