Streamlined NUH hub shortens digestive treatment wait

The National University Centre for Digestive Health combines patients’ access from initial consultation to surgery.

The National University Hospital (NUH) opened the National University Centre for Digestive Health (NUCD), a facility dedicated to early detection and advanced treatment for digestive diseases.

The NUCD accelerated patients’ access from initial digestive consultation to surgical expertise in upper gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, and colorectal, NUH said.

This streamlined approach reduces waiting times, minimises repeated visits, and enables faster treatment decisions for better outcomes, it added.

Since its concept launch in 2024, the NUCD has consolidated NUH's digestive health services, serving as a referral hub for complex cases from other hospitals within the National University Health System.

Hospitals in the system include Ng Teng Fong General Hospital and Alexandra Hospital.

The hospital said that NUCD has contributed to the clinical validation and implementation of the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) score and fibroscan to screen for liver fibrosis in high-risk patients with fatty liver and other chronic liver diseases.

To date, it added that the centre has screened more than 12,000 high-risk patients, facilitating earlier detection and interventions.

Another key focus of the centre is improving the detection of colorectal cancer through its colonoscopy quality.

According to the Singapore Cancer Registry Annual Report 2022, it is the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths locally.