New academy to equip healthcare professionals with sustainability skills

Sector seeks to maintain quality of care while switching to greener options

- Lee Li Ying

Even though cataract operations may involve a mere 5cm of the face around the eyes, full-body surgical drapes are put on patients during the procedure as a sterile barrier.

Along with the use of disposable medical instruments, one cataract operation generates around 3kg of waste.

With 2,400 cataract procedures performed at Tan Tock Seng Hospital's (TTSH) specialist centre in Ang Mo Kio every year, 7,240kg of waste is generated annually.

To reduce the amount of waste, TTSH doctors are making several changes in 2024, including a shift to half-body surgical drapes.

Clinical Associate Professor Wong Hon Tym, senior consultant at TTSH's ophthalmology department, said: "There are many good eye care systems in less resourced nations that are performing cataract surgery at a very high standard, with possibly five to 10 times less waste than we have.

"Over the years, we've built up a strong policy of infection control and quality, but it may have gone a little bit over. So we have to think about cutting back and reducing waste."

The waste reduction initiative has cut 60kg of waste since its pilot started two weeks ago, and it has a target of 3,127kg per annum.

Prof Wong said the aim is to maintain quality of care while switching to greener options.

Such projects are part of the Singapore healthcare sector's efforts to decarbonise the energy-intensive industry.