Severe shortage of Hong Kong psychiatrists 'means they have just minutes to decide if patient's condition is dangerous'

Experts have expressed concern about the severe shortage of mental health professionals in Hong Kong public hospitals after a mother suffering from depression jumped to her death with her 10-year-old son yesterday.

Based on current trends, the number of psychiatrists at public hospitals in Hong Kong is not expected to reach the level recommended by the World Health Organisation for another two decades.

There are only around 300 psychiatrists employed in the city’s public hospitals – 400 fewer than the number recommended by the WHO, which says there should be one psychiatrist available for every 10,000 people.

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Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists spokesman Dr Chan Lap-kei said the shortfall means psychiatrists in the public sector only have a few minutes to talk to each patient to decide whether their mental condition is in serious need of medical care.

“Usually we only have a few minutes to talk to a patient to see whether his or her condition is dangerous,” Chan said. “If they seem to be quite stable, we rush on to see the next patient, since the workload is really heavy.”

The woman who leapt to her death with her son from the 30th floor of a public housing block in Tuen Mun yesterday had been suffering from depression for a decade after she gave birth.

Police were investigating whether Chung Wai-sze, 38, grabbed her boy, Lo Chi-chung, a Primary Five pupil, as she jumped out of a window at the family’s home in Kin Lung House at Lung Yat Estate.