Residents who give up waiting to see doctor at Hong Kong public hospital A&E departments can receive refund
Hong Kong public hospitals will offer to refund the attendance fee paid by non-urgent patients at accident and emergency departments if they give up waiting and leave over the Lunar New Year holiday in a bid to encourage them to seek treatment elsewhere.
Dr Ko Pat-sing, chief executive of the Hospital Authority, on Tuesday said the special arrangement, which would be offered from Friday to February 18, aimed to focus manpower and resources on urgent cases.
“We hope the arrangement can help encourage mild or stable cases to seek help from the private sector or general outpatient clinics,” he said. “We have seen patients who wished to leave while waiting, but chose to stay because they already paid the attendance fee.”
Currently, patients A&E departments are divided into five categories based on their medical condition. Non-urgent cases are usually asked to pay a HK$180 (US$23) attendance fee before seeing a doctor, while urgent ones pay the amount after treatment.
Under the special arrangement, those categorised as ‘semi-urgent’ or ‘non-urgent’ can choose to have their attendance fee refunded if they change their mind within 24 hours of registration and leave. The money will be reimbursed within a month.
Hong Kong health chief considers bigger charges for minor complaints at A&E
Hong Kong health chief considers bigger charges for minor complaints at A&E
As of Tuesday afternoon, the average waiting time at A&E departments of public hospitals ranged from one to six hours, with the longest queues seen at North District Hospital (six hours), United Christian Hospital (five hours) and Prince Margaret Hospital (four hours).
Health minister Lo Chung-mau earlier said he was confident the city’s high rate of vaccination against Covid-19 and the flu would help healthcare workers in fending off a hospital crisis such as the one that emerged during the fifth coronavirus wave two years ago, despite recent surges in cases of both infections
Hong Kong to welcome second batch of doctors, nurses from Guangdong province
Hong Kong to welcome second batch of doctors, nurses from Guangdong province
As of February, more than 49 per cent of residents aged 65 or above and 47 per cent of those under the age of six had received a flu jab, with the lowest rate of 18.5 per cent recorded in the 50-to-64 age group.
Meanwhile, almost 95 per cent of the city’s population has received some form of protection against the coronavirus either through vaccination or infection.
