Statement by S for Health on surgical light safety issue
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Regarding the incident in which a surgical light in United Christian Hospital fell off and injured a staff member last Saturday (February 18), the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, issued the following statement today (February 20):
"Safety of patients and staff is of our prime concern. This is an extremely serious incident involving high-standard medical equipment for use in operation rooms and it is absolutely unacceptable. I convened a meeting with the management of the Hospital Authority (HA) this morning to discuss the incident. Regarding the fact that a total of 12 surgical lights of the same model were found to have similar problems so far, I have instructed the HA to investigate and look into this incident with the vendor in a serious manner by reviewing aspects such as the design, material and maintenance of the relevant equipment. They are also tasked to take prompt follow-up actions properly, including immediate inspection of all hoist installations in its facilities based on risk assessment to guard the safety of staff and patients. I would like to express my sympathy to the injured staff member and appeal for the understanding of patients affected by the incident. The HA will make the utmost effort in minimising the impact on the patients.
In the light of this incident, I have also requested the HA to conduct a comprehensive review on its response mechanism adopted by the hospital management in handling similar incidents, covering also the workflow of overall crisis management and information dissemination, and submit to me a review report and recommendations for improvement as soon as possible."
Ends/Monday, February 20, 2023
Issued at HKT 19:45
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