***********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Chief Executive of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Shane Solomon, today (February 17) announced the findings and decisions of a high level special committee set up to review the investigation report submitted by the Hospital Chief Executive of Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) on the incident of a man collapsing on the road outside the hospital's entrance in December last year.
The committee has assessed the appropriateness of the response to the incident by the hospital management and staff, and also the shortcomings in the subsequent public handling of the incident. It also looked further into apportioning responsibility among those involved, and determined the required human resources actions.
The Special Review Committee was chaired by Mr Solomon, and included the following members:
- Chairman, HA Human Resources Committee, Dr Anthony Ho
- Chairman, HA Medical Services Development Committee, Professor Fok Tai-fai
- Chairman, CMC Hospital Governing Committee, Professor David Cheung
A total of 20 staff members involved in the incident have been interviewed by the committee. It was noted that the CMC investigation report was accurate in its chronology of what had occurred. The committee also believes that both the Hospital Chief Executive of CMC, Dr Ma Hok-cheung, and the Chief of Service of the Accident & Emergency Department, Dr Ng Fu, are responsible for the emergency response within the hospital and its immediate vicinity.
Basing on the findings, the committee, through its chairman, has instructed Dr Ma and Dr Ng to develop an improvement plan which will include:
(a) Clear steps to improve the responsiveness within and outside the A&E Department.
(b) Detailed steps for responding to all emergencies outside the department including emergencies in the immediate vicinity of the hospital compound, and creating the capacity to respond.
(c) Training for staff in public first-contact positions in the hospital (A&E Department, reception counters) to include a "customer service" dimension as well as understanding of hospital procedures.
Dr Ma and Dr Ng are required to present the improvement plan to the HA Chief Executive and the Cluster Chief Executive of Kowloon West Cluster within two months and the plan will be fully implemented within 12 months with a formal direct review of progress by the Chief Executive. During this period, Dr Ma and Dr Ng will be barred from promotion and salary increase pending the successful implementation of the plan. This measure will stay in force beyond the 12 months if improvements are not made according to the plan.
Furthermore, counselling and follow up training will also be undertaken respectively for the concerned clerk and the nursing staff at the A&E Department to ensure clarity of the HA's expectations in relation to their role and responses.
Ends/Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Issued at HKT 18:58
NNNN
