Meet Ms. Norlidah Othman at Tam Anh Research Institute: An Expert in CSSD Standardization

On June 1, 2026, Ms. Norlidah Othman, MSc – an expert with over 22 years of experience in CSSD management across Australia and Southeast Asia – visited the Tam Anh Research Institute. She met with hundreds of scientists, physicians, nurses, and healthcare professionals to share practical solutions for enhancing infection control and optimizing patient safety in surgical settings.

The success of surgical procedures relied fundamentally on the critical role of the Central Sterile Services Department (CSSD).

At Tam Anh Research Institute, Ms. Norlidah Othman discussed two key topics:

• Standardization vs. risk legitimization: A critical perspective on centralized CSSD.
• The invisible threat in decontamination: Have you truly controlled biofilm?

Zero – Incident leadership and a pioneering digitalization mindset

As CSSD Manager at Epworth Richmond Hospital, a leading surgical hospital with 32 operating theatres and 600 beds  – Ms. Norlidah has demonstrated exceptional operational and clinical expertise.

Leading a CSSD team of over 100 staff members, she successfully executed a dual transformation. She revitalized the workplace culture, substantially increasing staff engagement and satisfaction from 24% (2019) to 74% (2022), while also achieving excellence in risk management with a record of “zero patient safety incidents”. This serves as empirical evidence of her ability to maintain absolute sterility standards in a high-pressure clinical environment.

Underpinning these operational achievements is a comprehensive digitalization strategy initiated and directly implemented by Ms. Norlidah. She deployed the T-Doc instrument tracking system in Australia and utilized MS Access software to improve and redesign the loaner instrument management workflow. Consequently, medical instrument management was automated, enhancing the efficiency of both sterilization processes and general operations.

Ms. Norlidah Othman during a PPE practical session for the unit “Apply Basic Principles and Practices of Infection Prevention and Control” with students at Skills Training Australia. Source: Norlidah Othman, MSc.

Previously in Singapore, she played a pivotal role in the CSSD consolidation project for Parkway Healthcare Group (integrating Mt. Elizabeth Hospital and Gleneagles Hospital), overseeing the entire process from strategic planning to procurement.

Extending beyond traditional platforms, in March 2026, she completed the Generative AI Mastermind program, reaffirming her commitment to utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to optimize healthcare administration.

A foundation in applied research

Ms. Norlidah’s stringent sterility principles stem from her perspective as a researcher. She has contributed notable research to the American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC) – one of the world’s leading journals in infection control. Her notable publications include research “When a single hair or suture has been through the sterilization process, is it sterile?” (2013) and “Using ultraviolet visible markers in sterilizing departments” (2014).

Supported by a robust academic foundation, she serves on the Sterilizing Research and Advisory Council of Australia (SRACA) and the Sterility Assurance Discussion Forum. Notably, as an active member of the Biofilm Awareness Group, she will share her clinical experiences and professional perspectives at the upcoming seminar hosted by Tam Anh Research Institute.

Disseminating global knowledge and training the next generation

In addition to her managerial roles, Ms. Norlidah Othman has dedicated 16 years to education, directly training over 600 students in Australia. Through her practice-oriented curriculum, at least 80% of her students have achieved the status of Qualified Instrument Technicians upon course completion.

Her professional reputation extends globally, as evidenced by frequent invitations to present at the World Federation For Hospital Sterilisation Sciences (WFHSS) in the Netherlands (2019), the T-Doc Forum in Singapore (2023), and various medical forums across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

The scientific seminar “Digitalization Trends in CSSD Management,” organized by the Tam Anh Research Institute, presented a valuable opportunity for specialists, physicians, and technicians to gain in-depth, practical insights.

By prioritizing international collaboration and technology transfer, Tam Anh Research Institute continued to solidify its role as a bridge to global expertise through Ms. Norlidah Othman’s engagement with the domestic medical community.

Her expertise in biofilm control strategies, instrument-tracking digitalization, and workforce optimization served as critical reference points for healthcare professionals in the field of infection control.

Furthermore, the program helped medical staff update their knowledge and integrate global sterilization standards into daily practice, with the ultimate goal of ensuring absolute patient safety.