Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ8: Provision of medical services to patients in North Lantau

Following is a question by Dr Hon Tang Siu-tong and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (February 4): 

Question: 

Regarding the provision of medical services to patients in North Lantau, will the Government inform this Council: 

(a) of the progress and the estimated completion date of the review on the construction plan for North Lantau Hospital; 

(b) of the respective average response time of ambulances for conveying patients from North Lantau to the Accident and Emergency ("A&E") departments of various hospitals in the Kowloon West cluster; how they compare with the average response time for the whole territory; 

(c) of the total number of patient-trips taken by ambulances from North Lantau to the A&E departments of public hospitals over the past three years, together with a breakdown by triage categories; and 

(d) whether it has plans to set up a clinic in North Lantau to provide round-the-clock non-urgent medical services; if not, of the reasons for that? 

Reply: 

(a) The Government is reviewing the remaining development and land use planning of the Tung Chung New Town. This includes the location of the hospital for North Lantau. The review is expected to be completed in 2005. 

(b) In normal circumstances, Fire Services ambulance will convey patients/casualties from North Lantau who require acute and emergency care to Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) for treatment. The average traveling time from Tung Chung to PMH is 33 minutes. The average time for conveying a patient/casualty from other areas in Hong Kong to a public hospital is 17 minutes. 

(c) Data on patients/casualties sent by ambulance to an A&E department of public hospitals broken down by the site of incident and triage category is not readily available. According to the records collated by the Hospital Authority (HA), a total of 3,917 patients who resided in Tung Chung or Chek Lap Kok had attended the A&E department of PMH between 2001 and 2003. The triage categories of these patients are set out in the table below - 

Triage Category 2001 2002 2003

Category 1 (Critical) 14 24 28
Category 2 (Emergency) 25 32 43
Category 3 (Urgent) 511 818 810
Category 4 (Semi-urgent) 402 557 633
Category 5 (Non-urgent) 11 3 6

(d) The HA is currently operating a general outpatient clinic in Tung Chung, providing primary care services to residents of the neighbouring areas. Apart from the daytime opening hours, the clinic offers consultation service in the evening from 6pm to 10pm from Monday to Friday. While there is no immediate plan to extend the operating hours of Tung Chung clinic at the moment, the HA is planning to conduct an overall review of the services provided by its general outpatient clinics, including the one in Tung Chung, this year. 

Ends/Wednesday, February 4, 2004
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