Photo credit: National University Health System (NUHS)
Ms Claudia Tan (left), Nurse Clinician and Advanced Practice Nurse, NUHS@Home, and Dr Stephanie Ko (right), Lead, NUHS@Home, with Mr Paul Faulkner, a former patient who benefitted from the hospital-at-home programme.
Five years on, NUHS’s hospital-at-home service scales up referrals and care pathways to serve more patients beyond hospital walls
SINGAPORE — NUHS@Home – the National University Health System’s (NUHS) innovative hospital-at-home programme – is further extending its hospital-level care services into the community, with more referral sources and patient groups.
At the NUHS@Home fifth anniversary celebrations on 3 October 2025, NUHS announced that the programme now cares for patients referred by community care teams and selected nursing homes across the western region of Singapore.
Since mainstreaming in 2024 to August this year, about 200 patients from community referrals have been cared for under this expanded referral network, mainly for conditions such as pneumonia, urinary tract infections, and cellulitis, which commonly affect older adults with limited mobility. The wider network of referrals means more patients can now receive hospital-level care without being admitted to a ward.
Significant growth in capacity and impact
Since its inception in September 2020 with just three virtual beds, NUHS@Home has grown to a 100-bed service today, with a roadmap to quadruple to 400 beds.
NUHS@Home has cared for nearly 7,000 patients at home to date, saving over 42,000 hospital bed days for those who most need them, and helping families care for their loved ones in familiar surroundings.
Dr Stephanie Ko, NUHS@Home Lead and Consultant with the Division of Advanced Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, National University Hospital (NUH), said: “NUHS@Home was first developed as a community-based alternative to staying in the hospital.”
“Our experience over the past five years shows that hospital-at-home is a practical and scalable model to expand bed capacity across a range of conditions. The challenge ahead is to evolve towards a system where patients are only warded if they really need to be, and more can receive hospital-level care safely at home. This shift requires not only technology, but also changes in mindset among our patients, physicians and caregivers.”
NUHS@Home not only optimises hospital resources, but also improves patient experience. More than 96 per cent of patients reported faster, more comfortable recovery at home, with fewer hospital-acquired infections and less functional decline.
Over 30 care pathways and growing
With Singapore’s ageing population, access to home hospitalisation is particularly valuable for older patients who prefer to recover at home where they are most comfortable.
Beyond increasing referral pathways, the conditions suitable for hospital-at-home care is also growing. NUHS@Home now delivers care through more than 30 clinical pathways, from common infections like cellulitis and urinary tract infections to more complex cases such as post-transplant and post-operative care. In the last year, NUHS@Home has expanded its services to the following new groups of patients, amongst others:
- Bone marrow transplant and post hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients with the National University Cancer Institute, Singapore (NCIS);
- Post total knee replacement surgery patients under the NUH Department of Orthopaedic Surgery; and
- Acutely ill inpatients from NTUC Health Nursing Homes in the western region of Singapore
In the coming years, NUHS will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Health to expand the service to more care pathways and patient groups, including mental health, organ transplant recovery, cancer and cardiac post-operative care, obstetrics & gynaecology, and paediatrics. NUHS@Home also aims extend its service to more nursing homes in the western region of Singapore by 2027.
A vision for home-first treatment
“Our vision is to make home-based care one of the leading models of care to patients and healthcare providers, thus becoming a new norm for both patients and healthcare providers rather than traditional hospital ward admissions. By embedding hospital-at-home care more deeply into the community, we are taking steps to ensure our healthcare system remains resilient and sustainable for the future, in the face of rising demand, an ageing population and more complex health needs,” said Dr Ko.
As NUHS@Home continues to expand its reach, it will work closely with hospitals, community care teams and nursing homes. The aim is to create a seamless ecosystem of care, where patients receive safe, effective and personalised care where they feel most comfortable: their home.
To download the PDF version of the media release, click
here.
