Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: Claims of medical incidents
Following is a question by Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council
today (April 17):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following
details of the claims of medical negligence received by the Hospital
Authority (HA) in the past five years:
(a) the latest numbers of such cases (set out in Annex 1, broken down by
handling method and result);
(b) the latest figures concerning the amounts of compensation and relevant
costs involved in such cases (set out in Annex 2, broken down by handling
method and result);
(c) a breakdown of the number of such cases by the year in which they were
reported and the type of medical negligence involved (set out in table
form); and
(d) the number of medical practitioners involved in such cases (set out in
table form, broken down by the year in which the cases were reported and
their ranks)?
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, the HA will appoint a loss adjuster or lawyer to
conduct negotiation for settlement of the case. In the event that court
proceedings have commenced, the 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 the HA, some of the claimants may, after
learning of the explanation from the HA or considering various factors,
stop pursuing their claims further.
Provided in the Annex is information about cases of claims received by the
HA arising from medical incidents reported under its medical incidents
insurance scheme in the past five years.
(a) The numbers of cases of claims are shown in Annex 3 (as at the end of
December 2012).
(b) The amounts of compensation and relevant costs for various cases of
claims (as at the end of December 2012) are shown in Annex 4 (all figures
are round numbers and in million dollars).
(c) and (d) The HA has not kept statistics on the breakdown of claims by
the type of medical negligence as well as the number and ranks of medical
practitioners involved.
Ends/Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:00
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LCQ8 Annex