Up to 8 TTSH dental patients may have been treated with incompletely sterilised instruments
The dental clinic at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) may have treated up to eight patients recently using instruments which did not undergo the last step of sterilisation.
In a statement on Monday (10 December), the Ministry of Health said TTSH had informed MOH that the incidents involved eight packs of dental instruments and the patients visited the clinic between 28 November and 5 December.
MOH said it is implementing additional control measures and reaching out to patients who had been treated at the clinic during the period.
“MOH has also directed the National Healthcare Group and TTSH to conduct thorough reviews of the incident, and report their findings and follow-up actions to MOH,” the statement said.
At the same time, MOH has met with the management of public healthcare institutions to reiterate the importance of staff awareness and adherence to processes for patient safety and care. It has asked them to review their sterilisation processes.
The incident comes about 18 months after a similar incident at National Dental Centre Singapore (NDCS).
On 12 June 2017, Singapore’s largest dental specialty centre reported that up to 72 patients were treated with dental instruments which were not fully sterilised. It reached out to 714 patients who visited some of its specialist outpatient clinics earlier that month.
Following the NDCS incident, MOH conducted audits of all licensed public and private healthcare institutions with central sterile supply departments (CSSDs) to assess their compliance with established sterilisation processes. The audits showed that all CSSDs were in compliance.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said, “We take a serious view of the incident at TTSH Dental Clinic and I am disappointed it has happened despite our efforts. MOH will study the incident closely, consult relevant technical experts, and consider further actions to be taken to reduce the risks of a re-occurrence across the healthcare sector.”
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