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All emergency patients will be conveyed to the Accident and Emergency Department of the nearest designated Hospital Authority (HA) hospital/clinic with effect from November 1, 2010, a Fire Services Department spokesman said today (October 26).
Under the arrangement, requests for conveyance to designated private hospitals will no longer be entertained. The Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association has lent its support to the arrangement upon consultation.
Exemption will only be given under the following circumstances:
* The emergency patient produces a valid certificate issued by HA/private hospitals which states that he/she is required to be treated in a designated hospital. In addition, the request is related to the medical condition as specified in the certificate and the patient's condition is stable enough for the requested longer journey; and
* The emergency patient, who is suffering from an illness or has sustained an injury outside Hong Kong, has a prior arrangement made by the relevant authorities to be admitted to a particular HA hospital when he/she arrives in Hong Kong.
Under the first scenario, the patient or his/her guardian/relative (if the patient is under the age of 18), will be requested to sign a request form FS319. The patient will undertake the full responsibility and liability of making such request.
The above measures have been implemented since August 1, 2010, with a three-month grace period during which patients who requested to be taken to a particular private hospital instead of the nearest designated HA hospital without a valid certificate might have their request acceded to.
The FSD spokesman said the grace period should have provided ample opportunity for the public to better understand the revised arrangement.
The revised measures will be strictly adhered to upon expiry of the grace period, the spokesman stressed.
Ends/Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:33
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