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
This is to acknowledge receipt of your e-mail message.
(The above is generated by an auto-reply programme)
Hospital Authority ([1]www.ha.org.hk)
=====================================
謝謝閣下的電子郵件。
（以上為電腦自動發出的訊息）
醫院管理局 ([2]www.ha.org.hk)
=====================================
谢谢阁下的电子邮件。
（以上为电脑自动发出的讯息）
医院管理局 ([3]www.ha.org.hk)
________________________________
***************************************************************************
Disclaimer
This Email may contain privileged and confidential information and is
solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended
recipient, you must not print, copy, distribute or take any action in
reliance on it. If you have received this Email by mistake, please notify
the sender and then delete this Email from your computer. The Hospital
Authority does not accept liability arising from Email transmitted by
mistake.
Although this Email and any attachments are believed to be free of virus
or other defects that might affect any computer system into which it is
received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure
that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by the Hospital
Authority for any loss or damage in any way arising from its use.
All views or opinions expressed in this Email and its attachments are
those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions
of the Hospital Authority.
***************************************************************************
References
Visible links
1. file:///tmp/www.ha.org.hk
2. file:///tmp/www.ha.org.hk
3. file:///tmp/www.ha.org.hk
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)
-----Original Message-----
From: 齊劭杰 <[FOI #806 email]>
Sent: Sunday, October 3, 2021 9:02 AM
To: [Hospital Authority request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click any
links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender and know
the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function to report
suspicious emails.
------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated via
the accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[1][FOI #806 email]
Is [2][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this form:
[3]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[4]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
Disclaimer
This Email may contain privileged and confidential information and is
solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended
recipient, you must not print, copy, distribute or take any action in
reliance on it. If you have received this Email by mistake, please notify
the sender and then delete this Email from your computer. The Hospital
Authority does not accept liability arising from Email transmitted by
mistake.
Although this Email and any attachments are believed to be free of virus
or other defects that might affect any computer system into which it is
received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure
that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by the Hospital
Authority for any loss or damage in any way arising from its use.
All views or opinions expressed in this Email and its attachments are
those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions
of the Hospital Authority.
***************************************************************************
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[FOI #806 email]
2. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
3. https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
4. https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
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)
-----Original Message-----
From: 齊劭杰
Sent: Sunday, October 3, 2021 9:02 AM
To: [2][Hospital Authority request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click any
links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender and know
the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function to report
suspicious emails.
------------------------
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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated via
the accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[3][FOI #806 email]
Is [4][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this form:
[5]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on
the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[6]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
Disclaimer
This Email may contain privileged and confidential information and is
solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the intended
recipient, you must not print, copy, distribute or take any action in
reliance on it. If you have received this Email by mistake, please notify
the sender and then delete this Email from your computer. The Hospital
Authority does not accept liability arising from Email transmitted by
mistake.
Although this Email and any attachments are believed to be free of virus
or other defects that might affect any computer system into which it is
received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure
that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by the Hospital
Authority for any loss or damage in any way arising from its use.
All views or opinions expressed in this Email and its attachments are
those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions
of the Hospital Authority.
***************************************************************************
References
Visible links
1. https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor...
2. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
3. mailto:[FOI #806 email]
4. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
5. https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
6. https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
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
On Thu, 21 Oct 2021 at 16:31, Enquiry (Hospital Authority)
<[1][Hospital Authority request email]> wrote:
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:
[2]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: [3][Hospital Authority request email] <[4][Hospital Authority request email]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 6:19 PM
To: '齊劭杰' <[5][FOI #806 email]>
Cc: '[6][email address]' <[7][email address]>;
'[8][email address]' <[9][email address]>;
'[10][email address]' <[11][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)
-----Original Message-----
From: 齊劭杰
Sent: Sunday, October 3, 2021 9:02 AM
To: [12][Hospital Authority request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click
any links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender
and know the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function
to report suspicious emails.
------------------------
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 [13]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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated
via the [14]accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[15][FOI #806 email]
Is [16][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[17]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[18]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
Disclaimer
This Email may contain privileged and confidential information and is
solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the
intended recipient, you must not print, copy, distribute or take any
action in reliance on it. If you have received this Email by mistake,
please notify the sender and then delete this Email from your computer.
The Hospital Authority does not accept liability arising from Email
transmitted by mistake.
Although this Email and any attachments are believed to be free of virus
or other defects that might affect any computer system into which it is
received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure
that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by the Hospital
Authority for any loss or damage in any way arising from its use.
All views or opinions expressed in this Email and its attachments are
those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views and
opinions of the Hospital Authority.
***************************************************************************
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shaojie QI <[19][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[20][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:45:31 +0000
Subject: Re: Request about info about the long wating list for
specialist doctors in public hospital
Sorry for put the wrong link below，another link is
[21]https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/request...
[22][email address] <[23][email address]>于2021年10月3日
周日09:41写道：
Dear Sir/Madam
Referring to the request made through [24]Preview new FOI request to
'Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk and [25]Request for the
information on solving the long waiting list for specialist in public
hospitals - a Freedom of Information request to Hospital Authority -
accessinfo.hk
please kindly reply to the email from [26]accessinfo.hk and cc
[27][email address], [28][email address] and
[29][email address] Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Qi Shaojie
Student
Hong Kong Bapist University
从 Windows 版[30]邮件发送
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "[31][email address]" <[32][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[33][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:24:53 +0000
Subject: Request about info about the long wating list for specialist
doctors in public hospital
Dear Sir/Madam
Referring to the request made through [34]Preview new FOI request to
'Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk and [35]Request for the information
on solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals - a
Freedom of Information request to Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk
please kindly reply to the email from [36]accessinfo.hk and cc
[37][email address], [38][email address] and
[39][email address] Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Qi Shaojie
Student
Hong Kong Bapist University
从 Windows 版[40]邮件发送
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "齊劭杰" <[41][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[42][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:06:01 +0000
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click
any links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender
and know the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function
to report suspicious emails.
------------------------
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 [43]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?
Please also notice our expectations on HA:
While we appreciate your efforts to the public under the Code on Access
to Information, we still find some questions like we mentioned before.
We would appreciate it if HA can maintain a professional standard when
fulfilling our requests. We hope you could answer our questions
separately instead of an answer without a clear indication. If no
information is available to our questions, please let us know, so that
we can follow up properly. We will definitely review our questions to
more senior departments. If it is believed to be solved properly, please
feel free to contact us. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
齊劭杰
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated
via the [44]accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[45][email address]
Is [46][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[47]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[48]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Dr Simon Wang, Ph.D., FHEA
Lecturer in English
Language Centre
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Phone: (852) 34117044
[49]http://lc.hkbu.edu.hk/staff_simon.php
[50]Writing for the Public Project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer
This message (including any attachments) may contain confidential
information intended for a specific individual and/or purpose. If you are
not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify the
sender and the University immediately. Any disclosure, copying, or
distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is
prohibited as it may be unlawful.
In addition, the University specifically denies any responsibility for the
accuracy or quality of information obtained through University E-mail
Facilities. Any views and opinions expressed in the email(s) are those of
the author(s), and do not necessarily represent the views and opinions of
the University. The University accepts no liability whatsoever for any
losses or damages that may be incurred or caused to any party as a result
of the use of such information.
References
Visible links
1. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
2. https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor...
3. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
4. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
5. mailto:[email address]
6. mailto:[email address]
7. mailto:[email address]
8. mailto:[email address]
9. mailto:[email address]
10. mailto:[email address]
11. mailto:[email address]
12. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
13. http://data.gov.hk/
14. http://accessinfo.hk/
15. mailto:[FOI #806 email]
16. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
17. https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
18. https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
19. mailto:[email address]
20. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
21. https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/request...
22. mailto:[email address]
23. mailto:[email address]
24. https://accessinfo.hk/en/new
25. https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/request...
26. http://accessinfo.hk/
27. mailto:[email address]
28. mailto:[email address]
29. mailto:[email address]
30. https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=...
31. mailto:[email address]
32. mailto:[email address]
33. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
34. https://accessinfo.hk/en/new
35. https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/request...
36. http://accessinfo.hk/
37. mailto:[email address]
38. mailto:[email address]
39. mailto:[email address]
40. https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=...
41. mailto:[email address]
42. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
43. http://data.gov.hk/
44. http://accessinfo.hk/
45. mailto:[email address]
46. mailto:[Hospital Authority request email]
47. https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
48. https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
49. http://lc.hkbu.edu.hk/staff_simon.php
50. https://sites.google.com/a/hkbu.edu.hk/w...
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
On Thu, 21 Oct 2021 at 16:31, Enquiry (Hospital Authority)
<[2][Hospital Authority request email]> wrote:
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:
[3]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: [4][Hospital Authority request email] <[5][Hospital Authority request email]>
Sent: Monday, October 11, 2021 6:19 PM
To: '齊劭杰' <[6][FOI #806 email]>
Cc: '[7][email address]' <[8][email address]>;
'[9][email address]' <[10][email address]>;
'[11][email address]' <[12][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)
-----Original Message-----
From: 齊劭杰
Sent: Sunday, October 3, 2021 9:02 AM
To: [13][Hospital Authority request email]
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click
any links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender
and know the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function
to report suspicious emails.
------------------------
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 [14]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
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated
via the [15]accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[16][FOI #806 email]
Is [17][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[18]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[19]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
***************************************************************************
Disclaimer
This Email may contain privileged and confidential information and is
solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you are not the
intended recipient, you must not print, copy, distribute or take any
action in reliance on it. If you have received this Email by mistake,
please notify the sender and then delete this Email from your computer.
The Hospital Authority does not accept liability arising from Email
transmitted by mistake.
Although this Email and any attachments are believed to be free of virus
or other defects that might affect any computer system into which it is
received and opened, it is the responsibility of the recipient to ensure
that it is virus free, and no responsibility is accepted by the Hospital
Authority for any loss or damage in any way arising from its use.
All views or opinions expressed in this Email and its attachments are
those of the sender and do not necessarily reflect the views and
opinions of the Hospital Authority.
***************************************************************************
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Shaojie QI <[20][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[21][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:45:31 +0000
Subject: Re: Request about info about the long wating list for
specialist doctors in public hospital
Sorry for put the wrong link below，another link is
[22]https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/request...
[23][email address] <[24][email address]>于2021年10月3日
周日09:41写道：
Dear Sir/Madam
Referring to the request made through [25]Preview new FOI request to
'Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk and [26]Request for the
information on solving the long waiting list for specialist in public
hospitals - a Freedom of Information request to Hospital Authority -
accessinfo.hk
please kindly reply to the email from [27]accessinfo.hk and cc
[28][email address], [29][email address] and
[30][email address] Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Qi Shaojie
Student
Hong Kong Bapist University
从 Windows 版[31]邮件发送
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "[32][email address]" <[33][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[34][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:24:53 +0000
Subject: Request about info about the long wating list for specialist
doctors in public hospital
Dear Sir/Madam
Referring to the request made through [35]Preview new FOI request to
'Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk and [36]Request for the information
on solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals - a
Freedom of Information request to Hospital Authority - accessinfo.hk
please kindly reply to the email from [37]accessinfo.hk and cc
[38][email address], [39][email address] and
[40][email address] Thanks in advance.
Yours sincerely
Qi Shaojie
Student
Hong Kong Bapist University
从 Windows 版[41]邮件发送
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: "齊劭杰" <[42][email address]>
To: "Enquiry (Hospital Authority)" <[43][Hospital Authority request email]>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Sun, 3 Oct 2021 01:06:01 +0000
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Request for the information on
solving the long waiting list for specialist in public hospitals
------------------------
EXTERNAL EMAIL: This email originated from outside of HA. Do not click
any links, open any attachments, or reply unless you trust the sender
and know the content is safe. Use the "Report Phishing Email" function
to report suspicious emails.
------------------------
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 [44]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?
Please also notice our expectations on HA:
While we appreciate your efforts to the public under the Code on Access
to Information, we still find some questions like we mentioned before.
We would appreciate it if HA can maintain a professional standard when
fulfilling our requests. We hope you could answer our questions
separately instead of an answer without a clear indication. If no
information is available to our questions, please let us know, so that
we can follow up properly. We will definitely review our questions to
more senior departments. If it is believed to be solved properly, please
feel free to contact us. We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Yours faithfully,
齊劭杰
-------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a request under the Code of Access to Information facilitated
via the [45]accessinfo.hk website.
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[46][email address]
Is [47][Hospital Authority request email] the wrong address for Freedom of Information
requests to Hospital Authority? If so, please contact us using this
form:
[48]https://accessinfo.hk/en/change_request/...
Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published
on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
[49]https://accessinfo.hk/en/help/officers
If you find this service useful as an FOI officer, please ask your web
manager to link to us from your organisation's FOI page.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Dr Simon Wang, Ph.D., FHEA
Lecturer in English
Language Centre
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong
Phone: (852) 34117044
[50]http://lc.hkbu.edu.hk/staff_simon.php
[51]Writing for the Public Project
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer
This message (including any attachments) may contain confidential
information intended for a specific individual and/or purpose. If you are
not the intended recipient, please delete this message and notify the
sender and the University immediately. Any disclosure, copying, or
distribution of this message, or the taking of any action based on it, is
prohibited as it may be unlawful.
In addition, the University specifically denies any responsibility for the
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