Request for the information on solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
Dear Hospital Authority,
We are students from Hong Kong Baptist university who are writing to ask some questions about the booking system . We found seeing specialist doctors is more and more difficult in Hong Kong nowadays, long waiting time is a big problem to Hong Kong citizens.
Q.1. According to data.gov.hk, the New Case Booking for Specialist Outpatient Services are categorized into urgent, semi-urgent and stable (. In what ways does the Authority determine whether a case is urgent, semi-urgent or stable? If the conditions of a patient changes, how can s/he inform the Authority and ask for an earlier appointment?
Q.2 We noticed considerable variation in the waiting time for the same specialty across different regions. For example the waiting time for Psychiatry in HK East is 35 weeks and the waiting time for Kowloon East is 93 weeks (for stable cases). To what extent is it feasible for the Authority to transfer patients between regions and re-assign doctors from one hospital to another in order to reduce the differences in waiting time across regions?
Q 3 To what extent is it feasible for the Authority to hire private doctors as part-timers to reduce the waiting time for some regions and specialties with the longest waiting time?
We are looking forward to your replying.
Yours faithfully,
齊劭杰
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Hospital Authority ([1]www.ha.org.hk)
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醫院管理局 ([2]www.ha.org.hk)
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医院管理局 ([3]www.ha.org.hk)
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Dear Mr Qi,
Thank you for your Application for Access to Information dated 3 October
2021.
As the processing of your request involves consultation with the
departments concerned, we are unable to provide you with the information
sought at this stage. You will be advised further in relation to your
request on or before 22 October 2021.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Sandy Chu(Miss)
Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
(Tel.: 2300 6568/2300 6555)
Dear Mr Qi,
Further to my reply dated 11 October 2021, please find below the Hospital
Authority (HA) Head Office’s responses to the items you requested:
Item 1
The Specialist Out-patient Clinics (SOPCs) will arrange the date of
medical appointment for new specialist out-patients based on their
clinical conditions at the time of referral. Referrals are usually first
screened by a nurse and then by a specialist of the relevant specialty for
classification into the following categories:
Ÿ Urgent Case (Priority 1);
Ÿ Semi-urgent Case (Priority 2); and
Ÿ Stable Case (Routine)
Patients classified as urgent and semi-urgent would be arranged to have
the consultation within two weeks and eight weeks respectively as far as
possible.
If a patient's condition deteriorates before the appointment, he or she
may contact the clinic concerned and request for an earlier appointment.
If the condition is acute, the patient could also seek immediate treatment
at the Accident and Emergency (A&E) departments. Arrangement for the
patients would be made as necessary. Information about triage arrangements
of SOPCs can be found on the HA website via:
[1]https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor...
Item 2
The latest waiting time information is posted on the HA website and at
SOPCs. While patients may book new case appointment at SOPCs of their
choice, staff of the HA will take due account of individual patients’
clinical condition and nature of service required in arranging appointment
for SOPC services. For example, as psychiatric patients may require
community support and more frequent follow-up treatments, HA staff may
recommend and arrange patients to seek medical care at SOPCs in the area
of their residence to provide greater convenience to the patients as well
as to facilitate adherence to the treatment plan.
Item 3
To enhance manpower support, the HA always actively recruits part-time and
temporary healthcare staff. In 2018, the HA set up the Locum Office to
promote the flexible recruitment of part-time healthcare professionals to
provide a more flexible and efficient way of recruitment, so as to attract
and recruit more part-time doctors and nurses to work in public hospitals
with a view to strengthening manpower support.
If you have any questions about this reply, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Sandy Chu(Miss)
Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
(Tel.: 2300 6568/2300 6555)
From: [Hospital Authority request email] <[Hospital Authority request email]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 6:19 PM
To: '齊劭杰' <[FOI #806 email]>
Cc: '[email address]' <[email address]>;
'[email address]' <[email address]>;
'[email address]' <[email address]>
Subject: Application for Access to Information (齊劭杰 Qi Shaojie) Freedom
of Information request - Request for the information on solving the long
waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
Dear Mr Qi,
Thank you for your Application for Access to Information dated 3 October
2021.
As the processing of your request involves consultation with the
departments concerned, we are unable to provide you with the information
sought at this stage. You will be advised further in relation to your
request on or before 22 October 2021.
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Sandy Chu(Miss)
Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
(Tel.: 2300 6568/2300 6555)
Dear Miss Chu
Thanks for your reply. We have a few follow up questions
regarding “ If a patient's condition deteriorates before the appointment,
he or she may contact the clinic concerned and request for an earlier
appointment.”
1. The above statement has been found in the link provided. In what ways
other than this web page have the patients been informed of this option?
For example, are the patients verbally reminded about this?
2. Does the HA or the clinics or hospitals keep track of such cases ? If
so, could you provide the data for the past 3 months that are available
including no. of patients who requested an earlier appointment and the
percentage of the cases for which earlier appointments were arranged?
Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Simon Wang
Dear Dr Wang,
Thank you for your email dated 23 October 2021. Please find below the
Hospital Authority (HA) Head Office’s response to your follow-up
questions:
Item 1
On a patient’s Specialist Out-patient Clinic (SOPC) appointment slip,
there is generally a remark that reminds the patient to go to his/her
family doctor, specialist or the [1]Accident & Emergency Department for
advice if his/her condition deteriorates. The SOPC’s contact number is
also provided on the appointment slip for patients to approach the clinic
for assistance and enquiries.
Item 2
The HA does not collect data about the number of patients who requested an
earlier appointment and the percentage of cases for which earlier
appointments were arranged. The information you requested is not
available. According to paragraph 1.14 of the Code on Access to
Information, the Code does not oblige departments to create a record which
does not exist.
If you have any questions about this reply, please do not hesitate to
contact me.
Yours sincerely,
Sandy Chu(Miss)
Access to Information Officer
Hospital Authority Head Office
(Tel.: 2300 6568/2300 6555)
From: Simon H WANG <[email address]>
Sent: Saturday, October 23, 2021 1:06 PM
To: [Hospital Authority request email]
Cc: [email address]; [email address];
[FOI #806 email]; [email address]
Subject: Re: Application for Access to Information (齊劭杰 Qi Shaojie)
Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on solving
the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
Dear Miss Chu
Thanks for your reply. We have a few follow up questions
regarding “ If a patient's condition deteriorates before the appointment,
he or she may contact the clinic concerned and request for an earlier
appointment.”
1. The above statement has been found in the link provided. In what ways
other than this web page have the patients been informed of this option?
For example, are the patients verbally reminded about this?
2. Does the HA or the clinics or hospitals keep track of such cases ? If
so, could you provide the data for the past 3 months that are available
including no. of patients who requested an earlier appointment and the
percentage of the cases for which earlier appointments were arranged?
Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Simon Wang
