A GROSS Increase in Efficiency!

By Grace Lim

6/3/2025 10:38:00 AM | Stories from the Heart (NHCS)

The article is contributed/written by

Let’s shine a light on more GROSS (Get Rid of Silly Stuff) initiatives at NHCS, where simple changes solve complex issues! In this instalment, CardioConnect dives into at quality improvement efforts by two departments – digitalising safety block audits by Nursing, as well as streamlining email meetings by the Performance Management Team in Corporate Planning & Performance (CPP).

Read the previous GROSS articles here: Mirror, Mirror on The Wall, Who’s The Grossest of Them All and GROSSly Simplified: Small Changes, Big Impact.

Advancing into the Digital Age

The ‘Safety Block Audits’ initiative was led by the Nursing Administration team consisting of (L-R): Peggy Yeo Meow Tin (Senior Associate Executive), Zhang Juxia (Senior Nurse Manager), and Kwek Koon Roan (Deputy Director, Nursing) (not pictured).

Before implementing their revised processes, our Nurse Clinicians (NCs) used to conduct monthly manual audits with hardcopy checklists. These time-intensive yet crucial audits were used to track information such as patient falls and pressure injury data. As such, the team was prompted to seek out more effective alternatives in tracking patient data, eventually shifting the workflow to digital platforms instead.

Today, our nursing quality team collaborates with ward NCs periodically verify real-time patient data sourced from the SingHealth Incident Reporting System (IRS) and e-HINTS systems before sending it off for data analysis. Through this, the team successfully reduced the time needed on audits, documentation, and data entry, allowing for a more efficient use of manpower. Additionally, the accessibility of using a digital platform facilitates early detection of potential issues through real time monitoring, increasing the accuracy and reliability of data.

“This change not only enables us to enhance our care practices for our patients, but it also comes with the added benefit of reducing our paper usage and storage needs as well!” beamed Senior Associate Executive Peggy Yeo.

Reduced Emails, Increased Convenience

The ‘Scheduling of Meetings’ project was initiated by Corporate Planning & Performance (Performance Management team) (L-R): Wong Jia Min (Executive), Josephine Ng Wei Ling (Senior Executive), and Michelle Chew Ling Ling (Manager).

Similarly, the CPP team identified an issue with organising meetings with many stakeholders, where multiple emails were sent to both align on their availability and remind them of the appointment. For instance, SCFC Service Line Review (SLR) meetings requires coordination between around 8 different departments. This not only led to a cluttered inbox for the participants but made managing the responses on the backend difficult as well.

To tackle this issue, the team has now streamlined the process by identifying stakeholders’ availability through a single email. Likewise, email reminders every other week prior to meetings have been discontinued, and are now sent only where required. Through this, key information such as the meeting slides and agenda can now be accessed with ease. Additionally, facilitating these meetings is much smoother for the coordinating team.

As Manager Michelle Chew aptly put, “It’s often the simplest fixes, such as reducing the number of emails, that yield the greatest results!”

Let’s strive to be GROSS!

Through their initiatives, both the Nursing and CPP teams demonstrated how small changes can make a big difference in streamlining processes – saving time, manpower, and a whole lot of hassle! Hats off to their efforts in GROSS-ing their work.

Have a GROSS idea or completed a GROSS project? Submit your entries here (for nursing only).