DHL invests S$6mln in top Singapore hospitals

DHL provides healthcare logistics solutions to National University Hospital and Tan Tock Seng Hospital to improve patient care.

DHL, the world’s leading logistics company, has invested over S$6 million to develop two dedicated healthcare facilities in Singapore in order to meet the growing demand for regional distribution centre, local distribution to pharmacies and hospitals and secondary packaging services, according to a DHL report.

DHL has expanded from a single healthcare hub to a network of two integrated healthcare hub operations in Singapore, spanning 86,000 sqft. These hubs will provide secondary packaging services for restructured hospitals National University Hospital (NUH) and Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), which mean repackaging and bar-code labeling bulk pharmaceutical products such as tablets and capsules in blister packs, and bottles, ampoules and syringes into single-dose units – a task previously performed in-house.

Kok Peet Leong, Vice President, South East Asia and Managing Director, Singapore, DHL Supply Chain, said: “Creating single-dose packaging is labor-intensive but has a critical impact on both the safe administration of medicine to patients and the efficient management of hospitals today in terms of best utilizing staff and budgets. DHL is committed to serve our healthcare customers with the most stringent industry standard and in Singapore alone, we handle more than a million of secondary repackaging and labeling units per month.”

At the DHL Healthcare Hubs, state-of-the-art life sciences equipment records information about each drug such as type, strength and expiry dates on each dose using bar-codes that allow better inventory control and expiry date management of stocks. This logistics solution enables single doses to be administered fast and accurately.

DHL Supply Chain’s Single Dosage Packaging Service for Non-Tablet/Capsule and Medicinal Products (inclusive of controlled and cytotoxic drugs) and blister pack tablets includes designing and printing bar-code labels for single dose bottles, syringes, ampoules and tablet pouches with comprehensive information such as name, strength, item code, batch number, manufacturing date, expiry date and quantity. These services are provided by DHL at the two Healthcare Hubs – located in the east and west of the island.

Both facilities are GDP/MDS certified and carry world-class certification such as ISO 13485:2003, ISO 9001:2008 (Quality System) and OHSAS 18001:1999 (Occupational Health & Safety Assessment Standard) for distribution practices in medical devices and equipment. In addition, the Healthcare Hub in Changi is GMP certified by the Health Sciences Authority for secondary packaging of pharmaceutical products and postponement services to enhance the hospitals’ inventory management high-safety standards. Check points ensure that medicines are contaminant-free and correctly packaged and labeled. In addition, the facilities are equipped with 24/7 temperature and humidity monitoring instruments and CCTV security.

Healthcare services and life sciences is one of DHL’s fastest growing sectors globally and particularly in Asia-Pacific. In the UK, DHL offers logistics solutions to renowned hospitals in London. In addition to secondary packaging, it provides a range of services that includes inventory management with complete visibility at all stock points, optimized inventory levels, replenishment and point of consumption analysis, patient/surgeon level costing, deliveries of specimens, and medical records storage and tracking. In Singapore, in addition to secondary pharmaceutical packaging for hospitals, DHL Supply Chain also offers life science customers supply chain services for clinical trial drugs, pharmaceutical and medical devices through its multi-million dollar Regional Distribution Centre.