The Health Bureau (HHB) announced today (February 26) that free consultation services by family doctors and Chinese medicine (CM) practitioners, and free denture replacement services provided for residents affected by the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, will be extended for six months to August 31 this year. The Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission) will continue to leverage the District Health Centres/District Health Centre Expresses (collectively referred to as DHCs) across all 18 districts in Hong Kong as hubs to co-ordinate various primary healthcare services as needed for the affected residents. The latest figures and arrangements of these services are as follows:
 
DHC hotlines
 
     Under the co-ordination of the PHC Commission, the DHCs across all 18 districts in Hong Kong have set up hotlines since December 1 last year (see Annex 1) to arrange personalised case management services for affected residents, offering more convenient and comprehensive medical support. The support includes pairing the affected residents with free consultation services provided by private family doctors and CM practitioners, assisting residents to manage follow-up appointment arrangements and medication refills at the Hospital Authority (HA)'s out-patient services as necessary, and making referrals to necessary healthcare, nursing and medication services, as well as psychological support. The services co-ordinated by the DHCs are not subject to district boundaries. For example, the DHCs may assist affected residents in transferring the HA's Family Medicine Out-patient (FMOP) follow-up appointments and medication refill service points, from Tai Po District to another location, thereby sparing residents the need for travelling across districts. As of February 24, DHC hotlines across all 18 districts have received 435 enquiries in total.
 
Free consultations by family doctors and CM practitioners and free denture replacement services
 
     The HHB has introduced a free family doctor service scheme, free CM consultation services, and free denture replacement services since December last year to support the primary healthcare needs of the affected residents. Case managers of the DHCs will arrange the affected residents to receive up to three free consultations by family doctors and CM practitioners respectively based on their individual situations and preferences, covering the provision of medication and related treatments; and at least one free dental consultation and one follow-up appointment (subject to clinical need), covering denture replacement and oral treatment services. As of February 24, 224 referrals have been handled by the DHCs.
 
     To continuously support the primary healthcare needs of the affected residents, with the consent of all participating private medical partners and organisations, the HHB will extend the aforementioned schemes and services for six months to August 31 this year. The mode of service will remain unchanged. For more details of the extended free consultation services, affected residents may call the DHC hotlines (see Annex 1) to make enquiries and arrange for referrals.
 
     The HHB extends sincere gratitude to the selfless devotion of all participating private family doctors, private hospitals, CM practitioners and dentists for shouldering social responsibilities and actively supporting the affected residents by providing them with free necessary healthcare services.
 
HA's healthcare services
 
     The HA will also continue to provide necessary healthcare services to affected residents. All residents of the eight blocks at Wang Fuk Court (including foreign domestic helpers) are eligible for full medical fee waivers until December 31 this year. The waivers cover in-patient services, family medicine and specialist out-patient clinics (SOPCs) services (including psychiatry SOPCs), accident and emergency services, day hospitals, day procedures, community services, and Chinese Medicine Clinics cum Training and Research Centres (CMCTRs) under the HA. As of February 24, the HA has provided necessary healthcare services to around 2 000 affected residents.
 
     Meanwhile, the PHC Commission and the HA also enable affected residents with healthcare needs to make priority bookings for FMOP Services and CMCTR services. Residents can make a priority booking for FMOP Services by following the instructions through the "Support Residents Affected by Fire Incident - FMOP Priority Booking" section in the eHealth mobile application, or for the HA's CMCTRs services via telephone booking.
 
     All individuals injured in the fire and admitted to public hospitals under the HA will receive full fee waivers for all necessary healthcare services (including drugs and medical devices) throughout the entire process of their treatment and rehabilitation. As of February 24, out of the 79 patients received treatment at various public hospitals due to the fire, 78 of them have already been discharged upon recovery, and the remaining patient is in stable condition. Healthcare staff will continue to provide appropriate treatment and care to the patient.

Mental health support
 
     The existing mental health support will continue to operate, including the 18111 - Mental Health Support Hotline, the HA's 24-hour Mental Health Direct hotline, and the Compassionate Support Programme for Bereaved Families. The 18111 - Mental Health Support Hotline immediately deployed additional staff and strengthened training for its call handlers on the day of the fire incident to cope with the emotional distress that the public may experience due to the incident. From the time of the incident to February 24, the hotline has received more than 29 000 calls, about 770 of which were related to the fire incident. The WhatsApp service has handled over 1 400 messages, with about 50 of them concerning the fire incident. The HA's 24-hour Mental Health Direct hotline, manned by psychiatric nurses, offers professional advice and support on mental health issues to callers, including provision of risk assessments and referrals to the HA's mental health services as appropriate. As of February 24, the Mental Health Direct hotline has received 111 calls related to the fire incident, with 48 of them coming from affected citizens.
 
     The HHB once again expressed heartfelt gratitude to various parties in the community for their efforts in providing comprehensive primary healthcare support to the affected residents, and will continue to ensure affected residents can receive convenient and effective medical support through the DHCs (see Annex 2).

Ends/Thursday, February 26, 2026
Issued at HKT 17:15

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