Doctors typically begin their wards rounds as early as 7am in the morning, during which patients may be told that they are fit for home. However, patients often do not leave the hospital until the afternoon. The average discharge time was approximately at 2.30pm. Patient feedbacks and patient satisfaction survey reflected the long discharge wait time, and this alerted the management the need to improve patient discharge time and experience. 

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A cross department project team was initiated to reduce discharge wait time. Following a Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology, the team implemented a D-1 process; moving processes that can be executed earlier (e.g. appointment booking, MC, discharge prescription, etc) to one day before discharge. The solution managed to improve the discharge wait time of Ward 10 by an average of 35mins, results were found to be statistically significant. With Medical Board's endorsement, the solution was rolled out to all wards.