Clinic service during Easter Holidays
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The Hospital Authority (HA) today (April 12) announced that 13 general out-patient clinics (see table below) will remain open and the service quota will be increased by around 1 800 to cope with demand over the upcoming Easter holidays from April 14 to 17. Members of the public are reminded to make advance booking through the telephone system as usual for appointments.
The HA Chief Manager (Cluster Services), Dr Ian Cheung, said that the Accident and Emergency (A&E) Departments of public hospitals will also remain open as usual to serve members of the public with urgent medical needs during the holidays. It is anticipated that the A&E service demand will surge during the extended holidays. Non-urgent patients should consider seeking consultations at general out-patient clinics or with private doctors.
"As public hospitals are seeing a surge in service demand, the daily attendance at A&E Departments has consistently exceeded 6 000 in the past week. We expect that the demand for A&E services will likely surge, especially in the latter part of the holidays and also the first working day following the extended holidays. As a result, semi-urgent and non-urgent patients might have to wait longer for consultation and treatment. I appeal to the general public for understanding and co-operation during the wait.
"Furthermore, with admission to medical wards via A&E Departments close to or above 1 000 daily for the past week, we anticipate medical wards to continue to be very crowded. We appeal for patients' co-operation in hospitals' arrangement to transfer stabilised patients to rehabilitation hospitals to vacate hospital beds in acute hospitals for new admissions."
Dr Cheung also took the opportunity to remind people travelling outside Hong Kong during the holidays to avoid making contact with birds or poultry and to reveal their travel history to healthcare staff when seeking medical consultation. The general public should adopt a healthy lifestyle, cover the nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing, maintain proper hand hygiene and wear a mask when developing symptoms of respiratory infections in order to avoid further spread of the disease. Members of the public are also advised to receive the seasonal influenza vaccine as early as possible to protect themselves and others.
To facilitate public understanding of public hospital services, A&E waiting time information, key statistics such as A&E attendance, the medical in-patient bed occupancy rate and hyperlinks to private healthcare services websites are available on the HA website (www.ha.org.hk/goto/wintersurge/en) and the "HA Touch" mobile App.
Members of the public are welcome to call the HA Infoline 2882 4866 to inquire about the general out-patient clinics service arrangement, or to find a private doctors for consultation during the holidays by calling the Hong Kong Medical Association Medilink 90000-222-322 (Operating from April 14 to 17).
| District | Name of Clinic | Telephone number for booking | General enquiry |
| Hong Kong Island | Shau Kei Wan Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0077 | 2560 0211 |
| Violet Peel General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0000 | 3553 3116 | |
| Aberdeen Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic | 3543 5011 | 2555 0381 | |
| Kowloon | Kwun Tong Community Health Centre | 3157 0687 | 2389 0331 |
| Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital Family Medicine Clinic | 3157 0118 | 2354 2267 | |
| Robert Black General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0113 | 2383 3311 | |
| Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0880 | 2272 2400 | |
New Territories |
Lady Trench General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0107 | 2614 4789 |
| Lek Yuen General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0972 | 2692 8730 | |
| Shek Wu Hui Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0965 | 2670 0211 | |
| Tai Po Jockey Club General Out-patient Clinic | 3157 0906 | 2664 2039 | |
| Tuen Mun Clinic | 3543 0886 | 2452 9111 | |
| Yuen Long Jockey Club Health Centre | 3543 5007 | 2443 8511 |
Consultation Hours:
Friday, April 14 and Monday, April 17
9am to 1pm and 2pm to 5pm
Saturday, April 15 and Sunday, April 16
9am to 1pm
Ends/Wednesday, April 12, 2017
Issued at HKT 15:40
Issued at HKT 15:40
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