Hongkongers to start preregistration at public dental clinics at 8pm instead of 12am from July: health chief
- Health minister Lo Chung-mau also says people will not have to line up for tickets in future as digital ticketing and registration system is in the works
- ‘After citizens have completed their preliminary registration, they only have to return to the clinic 30 minutes before the opening hours of the general public sessions begin,’ he adds
Hong Kong residents will be able to preregister for dental consultations at public clinics at 8pm rather than 12am starting from July, health authorities have said, as part of efforts to prevent late-night queues amid severe service shortages.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau also said on Tuesday people would not have to line up for tickets in the future as a digital ticketing and registration system was in the works.
Last month, the Audit Commission found that patients arrived as early as 5pm at four clinics in December 2023 and February this year and waited around seven hours for the registration to begin to secure an appointment for the next day.
At a public hearing of the legislature’s Public Accounts Committee, Lo said the quota of government-run dental clinics in 2022-23 had significantly dropped amid manpower shortages and the coronavirus pandemic.
But as the shortage worsened and service procedures were updated, authorities were unable to increase the quota after the pandemic, he added.
“Starting from early July, the Department of Health will adjust the time for preliminary registration at dental clinics with general public sessions from midnight on the day of the service to 8pm on the day before the service,” Lo told lawmakers.
“After citizens have completed their preliminary registration, they only have to return to the clinic 30 minutes before the opening hours of the general public sessions begin.
“They will be able to receive the service after verifying their identity cards and completing the formal registration. This change can prevent citizens from queuing overnight and returning to the clinics multiple times.”
Currently, Hongkongers do not enjoy free dental care except for emergency pain relief and extractions at 11 clinics operated by the department that offer these services not more than twice a week at each facility.
Preliminary registration for emergency consultations at nine of the 11 clinics starts at midnight and closes once the quota is reached. Patients must register in person and return for the appointment during the day.
It has been a long-standing issue where patients are forced to queue for hours to secure spots, while many needy residents are unable to afford expensive private dental care.
The audit watchdog urged the government to increase clinic quotas to pre-Covid levels of about 40,000 spaces a year.
It found that the number had fallen from 40,322 in the 2018-19 financial year to 20,337 in 2022-23, while public demand rose from filling 92.3 per cent of all spots to 99.2 per cent.
Lo also stressed that the department would change the time for ticket distribution and official registration from 11am to 1pm at Mona Fong Dental Clinic in Sai Kung, and keep the 1.30pm opening hour to allow residents to complete the whole process in one go rather than multiple trips.
He said authorities had planned to improve the Elderly Dental Assistance Programme under the Community Care Fund where elderly people no longer needed to apply for a new set of dentures to receive services such as check-ups, scaling, extractions and fillings.
Such a move could encourage early detection and treatment of dental problems among the elderly, he added.
Lo noted participation rates in the Outreach Dental Care Programme for the Elderly had hugely dropped as old people’s homes and day care centres were greatly affected during the pandemic.
Although rates had increased after the pandemic, there was still room for improvement, he said, adding the government, as well as care facilities, would work on ramp up promotion efforts.
Patients’ rights advocate Tim Pang Hung-cheong of the Society for Community Organisation said the government simply moved the preregistration to an earlier time and that long queues would still appear after the change without an increase in demand.
He said the arrangement at 12am was introduced in 2022 to prevent residents from queuing overnight to secure a spot in the morning.
“The latest arrangement will indeed make patients’ lives easier as they no longer need to queue late at night,” he said.
He also said it was more convenient for patients as they would only need to arrive at the clinic 30 minutes ahead to complete the formal registration.
Not every resident, especially the elderly and low-income residents, would have the resources to access the online ticketing system, he added.
“It does not solve the crux of the problem, which is that the department’s manpower is not enough to cope with the demand,” he said, adding that bringing in overseas-trained dentists could help.
The Legislative Council is currently scrutinising an amendment to the Dentists Registration Ordinance that would offer new pathways to import dentists trained abroad.
Hong Kong is suffering dentist shortages as a government estimation in 2020 showed the city would be 115 practitioners short in 2030 and 102 in 2035. The problem was expected to be alleviated in 2040. The department had a 27 per cent vacancy rate as of January this year.
