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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
To achieve excellence in medical care for patients with poisoning, the New Territories East Cluster (NTEC), Hospital Authority (HA), and the Faculty of Medicine of The Chinese University of Hong Kong jointly establish the Prince of Wales Hospital Poison Treatment Centre. This is a designated centre for management of poisoning under a multi-disciplinary team led by clinical toxicologists and is based at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Prince of Wales Hospital.
The Opening Ceremony of the Centre was held today (November 28) at the Prince of Wales Hospital. The Ceremony was officiated by Dr York Chow, SBS, JP, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Hong Kong SAR Government; Dr Cheung Wai-lun, Director (Professional Services & Operations), Hospital Authority; Dr Fung Hong, Cluster Chief Executive (New Territories East Cluster) Hospital Authority; Professor Joseph Sung, Associate Dean, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and Professor Thomas Chan, Director, Prince of Wales Hospital Poison Treatment Centre. In his address, Dr Chow reiterated that ¡§Poison Prevention and Control¡¨ is one of the policy initiatives announced in October in the Policy Address of the Chief Executive, HKSAR. Dr Chow remarked that ¡§it is pleased that CUHK and HA have taken initiative to facilitate our work by establishing the first Poison Treatment Centre, which will enhance the clinical services for in-patients and out-patients with poisoning.¡¨
The Centre provides clinical toxicology service for the assessment and clinical management of in-patients and out-patients with acute and chronic poisoning, serves as the tertiary referral centre for toxicological cases, provides consultative service on clinical management of poisoning and general and specialist training in clinical toxicology for health care professionals.
The experience and expertise of the multi-disciplinary team and adopting a systematized approach will help ensure the quality of clinical service. The Centre is equipped and well supported by various clinical disciplines to provide supportive and specific care for poisoned patients.
The Centre will work closely with the Government, other institutions and experts in poison control and prevention as well as training of health care professionals.
Ends/Monday, November 28, 2005
Issued at HKT 20:15
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