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Following is a question by Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (April 17):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows the following details of the claims of medical negligence received by the Hospital Authority (HA) in the past five years:
(a) the latest numbers of such cases (set out in Annex 1, broken down by handling method and result);
(b) the latest figures concerning the amounts of compensation and relevant costs involved in such cases (set out in Annex 2, broken down by handling method and result);
(c) a breakdown of the number of such cases by the year in which they were reported and the type of medical negligence involved (set out in table form); and
(d) the number of medical practitioners involved in such cases (set out in table form, broken down by the year in which the cases were reported and their ranks)?
Reply:
President,
Upon receipt of a case of claim arising from a medical incident, it is the usual practice of the Hospital Authority (HA) to conduct an investigation and seek legal advice before responding and explaining its stance on the claim to the patient or his/her lawyer. Depending on the circumstances of each individual case, the HA will appoint a loss adjuster or lawyer to conduct negotiation for settlement of the case. In the event that court proceedings have commenced, the HA will appoint a lawyer to make defence, collect evidence, conduct mediation and negotiate a settlement, etc. in the light of the circumstances and development of individual cases. For cases of claims received by the HA, some of the claimants may, after learning of the explanation from the HA or considering various factors, stop pursuing their claims further.
Provided in the Annex is information about cases of claims received by the HA arising from medical incidents reported under its medical incidents insurance scheme in the past five years.
(a) The numbers of cases of claims are shown in Annex 3 (as at the end of December 2012).
(b) The amounts of compensation and relevant costs for various cases of claims (as at the end of December 2012) are shown in Annex 4 (all figures are round numbers and in million dollars).
(c) and (d) The HA has not kept statistics on the breakdown of claims by the type of medical negligence as well as the number and ranks of medical practitioners involved.
Ends/Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:00
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