Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ2: Ambulance service
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Kam-lam and a reply by the Secretary for
Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 30):
Question:
Under existing arrangements, if Hong Kong residents who are taken ill or injured
on the Mainland wish to be transferred by ambulances back to Hong Kong for
treatment, prior coordination has to be made between the medical personnel in
Hong Kong and on the Mainland before they travel in mainland ambulances to the
boundary control points where they change to travel in Hong Kong ambulances to
the hospitals. Some members of the public have pointed out that while it takes
only some 10-odd minutes to change from one ambulance to another, the movement
may aggravate the conditions of the patients and even delay treatment. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a)it knows the number of cases of Hong Kong residents being transferred by
ambulances from the Mainland back to Hong Kong for treatment in each of the past
five years;
(b)it has assessed the impact caused by the transfer from one ambulance to
another on the conditions of the persons concerned; and
(c)the authorities will consider introducing a pilot scheme in the Pearl River
Delta cities to allow mainland hospitals to transfer in ambulances Hong Kong
residents who are taken ill or injured direct to the hospitals in Hong Kong for
treatment?
Reply:
President,
(a) and (b)The Hospital Authority (HA) mainly provides medical services for the
public in Hong Kong. It does not provide patient transfer service across the
border.
Hong Kong residents who are injured or suffering from an acute illness in the
Mainland and require ambulance service upon returning to Hong Kong may call the
Immigration Department's hotline at 1868 to make the request. They may also
request assistance from the officers of border control points upon arrival or
call the hotline at 999 to seek help during emergency. The departments will
strive to provide assistance. Based on the established arrangement between the
Fire Services Department (FSD) and HA, ambulances will transfer the residents
from the control points to the Accident and Emergency Department of a nearby HA
hospital for treatment. According to the figures provided by FSD, over 70% of
the calls made at control points in 2008 and 2009 were from the Lok Ma Chau and
Lo Wu control points and the patients were transferred to North District
Hospital for treatment. The remaining calls were mainly from the Shenzhen Bay
control point and the patients were transferred to Tuen Mun Hospital for
treatment.
According to the information provided by FSD, the numbers of transfer of
patients by ambulances from border control points to HA hospitals in the past
five years and the first four months of this year are set out below:
2005
5,411 cases
2006
5,220 cases
2007
5,833 cases
2008
5,950 cases
2009
5,736 cases
January to April 2010 2,033 cases
Patients transferred from the Mainland to Hong Kong are mostly in stable
condition. In general, their condition would not be significantly affected as
they change from one ambulance to another at the control points.
(c)HA has been maintaining exchanges and cooperation with the health authority
of Shenzhen in different aspects of hospital services. Both sides have discussed
the strengthening of communication between hospitals in the two places for
transfer of patients, and the arrangements to facilitate referral of Hong Kong
residents from the Mainland to public hospitals in Hong Kong for further
treatment. Both sides have initially agreed to implement the transfer of patient
records on a pilot basis. The idea is that designated hospitals in Shenzhen and
Hong Kong will work in coordination. When a Hong Kong resident in a designated
hospital in Shenzhen requests to be transferred to Hong Kong for treatment, the
hospital in Shenzhen will pass the patient's information, clinical history and
medication record to the designated hospital under HA to facilitate direct
liaison between medical personnel in the two places for follow-up on the
patient's case. HA initially considers selecting the North District Hospital and
Tuen Mun Hospital as the designated hospitals under the arrangement. At the
present stage, the abovementioned arrangement for transfer of patient record
will only be applicable to patients on a voluntary basis and who are in stable
condition. HA is working with the relevant departments in Shenzhen to finalise
the detailed arrangements for the transfer of patient record. It is expected
that the arrangement could be piloted before the end of this year.
Besides, Hong Kong residents living in the Mainland may also seek specialist
consultation in public hospitals/clinics in Hong Kong upon referral by a
Mainland doctor. As for direct transfer of patients from the Mainland to Hong
Kong, given that the present arrangement is able to cope with the demand in
general, and that the introduction of direct transfer service would involve
complicated issues such as regulation of cross-boundary vehicle and ambulance
service, the Administration has no plan to pilot such service at the present
stage. The Administration will however continue to monitor closely the
utilisation of cross-boundary transfer service of patients.
Ends/Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:49
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