Pathologist who misread reports on 118 patients to explain blunders to Hong Kong medical watchdog

The Hospital Authority has referred its first blunder to the medical watchdog for a disciplinary hearing in seven years in the wake of mounting calls for it to end its defensive approach to doctors, the Post has learned.

It involves the high-profile case of a United Christian Hospital pathologist who misread the health reports of 118 patients, which led to 17 of them receiving the wrong treatment last year.

The authority pledged last year to strengthen its system for dealing with misconduct complaints against doctors after a sharp rebuke from the Medical Council for repeatedly ignoring its calls for more referrals in cases involving gross negligence, misconduct and incompetence.

The Post revealed last year that in the five years to 2013 the authority referred only four cases to the council for further investigation, but none was related to medical blunders, raising concerns that serious mistakes were being swept under the carpet.

The authority said it would standardise its internal misconduct investigations and take the initiative to consult patients or their relatives about referrals to the council.