Driving innovation in pharmacy care
Published on 14 October 2025
Here’s how Ms Woon Chin Menn’s transformative projects have led to improved efficiency and patient experience in the pharmacy.
When Ms Woon Chin Menn received the Excellence Award at the NUHS Allied Health & Pharmacy Awards 2025, it felt less like a single accolade and more like recognition of years spent reshaping pharmacy care.
After all, over 16 years at the National University Hospital (NUH), the Senior Principal Clinical Pharmacist has reimagined processes, embraced technology and built supportive teams, with the goal of making care safer for patients and more sustainable for staff.
In the past, when patients were discharged from the wards at NUH, medication dispensing was often slow and fragmented. Porters ferried medicines from the pharmacy to the patients’ beds, while pharmacists interrupted clinical rounds to dispense drugs on the spot. This resulted in long waits for patients, while pharmacists were being pulled away from critical clinical work.
That is why, in 2018, Ms Woon seized the chance to redesign how medication was dispensed in the hospital. She spearheaded the Centralised Dispensing Model, which shifted bedside dispensing to a central discharge pharmacy.
“It was about improving efficiency but also freeing clinical pharmacists to focus on what they do best – providing care to their patients,” she explained. The change reduced patient waiting times, ensured 100 per cent pharmacy counselling during extended hours and gave patients round-the-clock access to pharmacist expertise.
Harnessing data and AI
Innovation has also been a hallmark of Ms Woon’s career. Collaborating with the National University Health System (NUHS) AI Office, she developed PharmacyflowAI, a predictive artificial intelligence tool that analyses patterns in discharge prescriptions. With more than 90 per cent accuracy, it allows the inpatient pharmacy to forecast weekend workloads and allocate manpower effectively.
“Working weekends is part of hospital life,” said the 40-year-old candidly. “With the predictor, we can roster just the right number of pharmacists. It prevents people from being overstretched and avoids overstaffing.” The result is a less stressful workplace, better use of resources and more sustainable weekend coverage.
She also supported the rollout of video counselling for patients. By scanning a QR code, patients can now revisit instructions at home, where they are more comfortable and receptive. “Technology helps us empower patients who can self-manage, so we can focus our time on those with more complex needs,” she said.
Leadership rooted in teamwork
Now overseeing a team of more than 130 staff, Ms Woon credits her colleagues for making large-scale change possible. “I’m very fortunate to have strong team leaders,” she said. “When everyone shares the same vision, it makes communication and change management much easier.”
Her leadership has helped lift employee engagement significantly: The inpatient pharmacy’s sustainable engagement index rose 17 percentage points from 2022 to 2024. This reflects not just operational improvements but also the supportive environment she has fostered.
As Service Lead for Inpatient Haematology/Oncology Pharmacy from 2015 to 2024, she ensured high standards of care for complex patients, contributing to NUHS’s Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant and Cellular Therapy Programme’s successful international reaccreditations.
Looking to the future of pharmacy
Ms Wong foresees the profession shifting from ensuring safe supply of medicine, to optimising therapy. “It’s about identifying the most suitable and cost-effective regimen for each patient, considering not just their medical needs but their social circumstances too,” she said. With AI and predictive tools, she expects pharmacists to move from being reactive to being proactive and prioritising patients who most need face-to-face counselling, while empowering others through digital self-help.
She also believes that younger pharmacists should see technology not as a threat, but as an ally. “Not everyone needs to be an expert in informatics, but we do need a group that understands both systems and clinical needs. That way, innovation truly supports practice.”
For Ms Wong, the Excellence Award is not an endpoint, but a marker of where healthcare is headed. In 2025, she was appointed as an NUHS Fellow under NUHS Foundation and was tasked with spearheading healthcare innovation and transformation. “Healthcare is changing, and it’s time for fresh minds to join us in making it better – not just for patients, but also for the people who care for them,” she said.
Her story shows what the Healthcare Workforce of the Future should look like: grounded in patient-centred care, open to innovation and committed to nurturing colleagues. “I still believe in the same reason I joined healthcare in the first place – to make a difference,” she said. “This award is a reminder that with teamwork and vision, we can.”
The NUHS Allied Health & Pharmacy Awards celebrate individuals who have made outstanding contributions to patient care, education, research and professional practice across NUHS.
Click here to find out more about the various Allied Health Professionals.
In consultation with Ms Woon Chin Menn, Senior Principal Clinical Pharmacist, NUH.
