National Healthcare Group (NHG)

The National Healthcare Group (NHG) is Singapore's second-largest integrated public healthcare cluster, operating under the vision 'Adding years of healthy life.' NHG was established to shift healthcare delivery beyond the traditional model of treating illness, towards the more challenging and rewarding goals of preventing disease, preserving health, and improving the quality of life for the communities it serves.

NHG oversees an integrated network of hospitals, national specialist centres, polyclinics, and community care institutions. Its member institutions collectively draw upon more than 325 years of combined medical expertise. NHG primarily serves the central region of Singapore, providing primary, secondary, and tertiary care across a continuum that spans polyclinic-level general practice through to highly specialised hospital-based care.

Key NHG institutions include Tan Tock Seng Hospital (the cluster's flagship acute general hospital with 1,200+ beds), Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Woodlands Health, the National Skin Centre, the National Neuroscience Institute (jointly with SingHealth), and the Institute of Mental Health. NHG Polyclinics manages eight polyclinics providing primary care to central Singapore communities. NHG also operates multiple community hospitals and step-down care facilities.

NHG's approach to healthcare is guided by four strategic priorities: delivering excellent patient care, building research capabilities, training the next generation of healthcare professionals, and driving innovation in health system design. NHG is headquartered at Commonwealth Lane in central Singapore.

NHG encompasses a full continuum of health services from primary care through to national-level specialist care, integrated across its member institutions.

At the primary care level, NHG Polyclinics provides general practitioner services, basic specialist outpatient services, health screening, chronic disease management, and preventive health programmes across eight polyclinics in central Singapore. Services include family medicine, dental care, pharmacy, laboratory, radiology, physiotherapy, and health promotion.

At the acute hospital level, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital together offer a comprehensive range of medical, surgical, and critical care services spanning all major adult specialties including Cardiology, Emergency Medicine, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, General Surgery, Geriatric Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Orthopaedic Surgery, Rehabilitation Medicine, Respiratory Medicine, and Rheumatology.

NHG's national specialist centres provide subspecialty leadership: the National Skin Centre leads dermatology, and the National Neuroscience Institute (shared with SingHealth) leads neurology and neurosurgery. The Institute of Mental Health is Singapore's national psychiatric hospital, providing inpatient and outpatient mental health services.

Community care institutions in the NHG network provide step-down care, rehabilitation, and long-term care for elderly patients and those with complex chronic conditions transitioning from acute hospital stays.

NHG's facilities span a network of institutions distributed across central Singapore, collectively providing a continuum of care from community-based primary care through to highly specialised hospital services.

The NHG hospital network includes purpose-built acute hospital campuses at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (Novena), Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (Yishun), and Woodlands Health (Woodlands), plus specialty campus facilities at the National Skin Centre (Mandalay Road), the National Neuroscience Institute (TTSH campus), and the Institute of Mental Health (Buangkok).

Diagnostic capabilities across the NHG network include MRI, CT, PET-CT, nuclear medicine, digital pathology, next-generation sequencing for precision medicine, and comprehensive clinical laboratory services. NHG institutions have adopted electronic health records and clinical data analytics platforms that support population health management across the cluster.

NHG's polyclinic network uses modern primary care facilities including point-of-care diagnostics, pharmacy dispensing automation, and digital health tools for chronic disease monitoring. NHG Virtual Care enables telemedicine consultations, digital monitoring for chronic conditions, and remote patient management — particularly valuable for elderly patients with limited mobility who prefer receiving care near their homes.

NHG member institutions provide international patient services individually through their respective hospitals and specialist centres. Patients from Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Myanmar, India, and other countries can access the NHG network for a range of acute, specialist, and rehabilitative care needs.

For international patients, the most common point of contact with NHG institutions is through Tan Tock Seng Hospital's International Patient Centre, which coordinates care across NHG's central Singapore hospital network. Interpreter services at NHG institutions are available in English, Mandarin, Malay, and Tamil — Singapore's four official languages — reflecting the diverse regional patient population.

NHG's national specialist centres — including the National Skin Centre and National Neuroscience Institute — provide specialised services that attract international patients with complex dermatological and neurological conditions respectively. International patients can access these centres directly or through referral from TTSH or other NHG hospitals.

NHG's International Patient Liaison Centre at its headquarters on Commonwealth Lane can provide information about accessing NHG services, directing international patients to the most appropriate institution and specialist within the NHG network. Billing at NHG public institutions is at full fees for international patients, with government subsidies applying only to Singapore citizens and residents.

NHG as a cluster oversees multiple individually accredited institutions. Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the NHG flagship hospital, holds Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation, ISO 9001, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001 certifications. Khoo Teck Puat Hospital and Woodlands Health are regulated by MOH and meet Singapore's public hospital standards.

All NHG institutions are licensed and regulated by the Ministry of Health Singapore, which conducts periodic licensing inspections, monitors clinical outcome indicators, and enforces patient safety standards across all restructured public hospitals and polyclinics. NHG participates in the NHG Quality and Patient Safety Framework — a cluster-wide governance programme that benchmarks clinical performance, reports adverse events, and drives continuous improvement.

NHG's National Skin Centre holds ISO 15189:2003 medical laboratory accreditation. The Institute of Mental Health (IMH) is the largest mental health institution in Singapore and holds MOH licensing for both inpatient psychiatric care and community mental health services. NHG institutions collectively hold multiple Joint Commission International accreditations, reflecting the cluster's commitment to meeting international quality standards across its diverse healthcare network.