S’wak health dept director: Lean healthcare principles could solve challenges faced by healthcare services

MIRI (Oct 21): The adoption of lean healthcare principles could possibly be a transformative solution to address the multifaceted challenges faced by healthcare services in the country, particularly the public healthcare services today, says Sarawak Health Department director Dr Veronica Lugah.

Rising patient demands, financial constraints and resource limitations, she points out, are the obstacles that require innovative approaches to maintain high-quality care while improving operational efficiency.

“Applying lean principles to the realm of healthcare provides a unique opportunity to optimise processes, eliminate inefficiencies, and ultimately enhance patient outcomes,” she remarked in her opening speech at the Borneo Lean Healthcare Conference 2024 at Pustaka Miri today.

In layman’s terms, lean healthcare is to minimise waste in every process, procedure and task through an ongoing system of improvement.

Dr Veronica stresses that lean principles offer a powerful framework for positive change, adaptable to both large medical centres and smaller rural clinics.

“By embracing this framework, healthcare organisations can, not only survive in the face of ever-evolving demands but thrive and excel in their mission to serve their communities,” she added.

Also present at the opening ceremony were Miri Hospital director Dr Jack Wong, Sabah State Health director Datuk Dr Asits Sanna, State Health director of the Federal Territory of Labuan Dr Francis Paul, PGMESMH chairman Dr Desmond Samuel and head of Quality and Accreditation Unit Miri Hospital Dr Qamarul Ariffin Samin.

Organised by the Miri Postgraduate Medical Education Society of Miri Hospital (PGMESMH) and the Miri Hospital Quality & Accreditation Unit, the two-day conference attended by over 144 participants from all over Malaysia and Brunei will be hearing various speakers sharing knowledge on lean principle and management.

The topics being discussed on the first day were Lean Culture Transformation by Dr Maizatul Izyami Kayat; Empowering Our Future: Lean Centre of Excellence’s role in tomorrow’s lean practices by Dr Intan Syafinaz Saman; and Synergising Digital Innovations for Lean Healthcare – Insights, Strategies and Pathways by Dr Mazlan Awang.

On the second day, the topics to be discussed are Lean Healthcare: Turning Complexity into Clarity by Dr Mohamad Ikbar Abdul Wahab; Sharing experience on Lean Journey from KK Jalan Masjid by Dr Maila Mustapha; and a forum on patient-centred lean practices: How lean can improve patient experience and outcomes which will be moderated by Irmawati Wasli with speakers – Dr Alex Kim Ren Jye, Dr Maizatul Izyami Kayat and Dr Muniamal Krishnan.