Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ18: Claims of medical negligence
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(June 6):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the details of the
claims of medical negligence against the Hospital Authority in the past five
years, and set out the information in the tables:
(a) the numbers of various kinds of cases (set out in Annex 1);
(b) the amounts of compensation and relevant costs in various kinds of cases
(set out in Annex 2); and
(c) the highest amounts of compensation in various kinds of cases (set out in
Annex 3)?
Reply:
President,
Upon receipt of a case of claim arising from a medical incident, it is the usual
practice of the Hospital Authority (HA) to conduct an investigation and seek
legal advice before responding and explaining its stance on the claim to the
patient or his/her lawyer. Depending on the circumstances of each individual
case, HA will appoint a loss adjuster or lawyer to conduct negotiation for
settlement of the case. In the event that court proceedings have commenced, HA
will appoint a lawyer to make defence, collect evidence, conduct mediation and
negotiate a settlement, etc. in the light of the circumstances and development
of individual cases. For cases of claims received by HA, some of the claimants
may, after learning of the explanation from HA or considering various factors,
stop pursuing their claims further.
Provided below is information about cases of claims received by HA arising from
medical incidents reported under its medical incidents insurance scheme in the
past five years.
(a) The numbers of various categories of cases are set out in Annex 4 (as at the
end of December 2011):
(b) The amounts of compensation and relevant costs in various categories of
cases (as at the end of December 2011) are set out in Annex 5 (all figures are
round numbers and in million dollars):
(c) All the above compensations are in respect of cases settled out of court. As
the content of the compensation agreements for these out-of-court settlements
must be kept confidential, we cannot disclose the details of individual cases.
Ends/Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:20
NNNN
Annex 1
Annex 2
Annex 3
Annex 4
Annex 5