Medical blunder linked to patient overload in Hong Kong public health care sector, doctors say

Consultation times down to six minutes per doctor amid shortage, groups say

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Doctors’ groups are urging for better private-public partnerships in the health care sector to deal with the patient load. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 11:45pm, 10 May 2017Updated: 10:57am, 11 May 2017

Overcrowding in the public health care sector, with doctors only having a few minutes to see each patient, should partly be blamed for the high-profile medical blunder that left a mother fighting for her life, medical groups have said.

The call came as two specialists in United Christian Hospital were revealed to have failed to prescribe antiviral drugs as a preventive measure to patient Tang Kwai-sze, when treating her kidney disease with steroids.

The oversight left her at risk of suffering from acute liver failure. She developed the condition later and required two urgent liver transplants, and was now still in critical condition, requiring artificial lungs to breathe.

“It is true that our medical staff members are really busy, and sometimes there might be oversights,” Hospital Authority chief executive Dr Leung Pak-yin said, adding that an investigative panel would look into the matter.

Hospital Authority chief executive Dr Leung Pak-yin says an investigative panel will look into the matter. Photo: Felix Wong

Public hospitals face a consistent shortage of some 250 doctors.

Medical blunder linked to patient overload in Hong Kong public health care sector, doctors say

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Consultation times down to six minutes per doctor amid shortage, groups say

Consultation times down to six minutes per doctor amid shortage, groups say