Hospital 'space Constraints' Led To Patient Arrests

The Hospital Authority says “space constraints” were to blame for the leaking of personal information on injured protesters who were treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in June, leading to their arrests.

In a statement, the authority said an investigative panel found “no evidence” that any staff at the Yau Ma Tei hospital’s emergency ward passed patients’ information directly to police.

A row broke out between hospital staff and the police on June 12 when officers arrested a number of protesters who sought treatment at Queen Elizabeth after being hurt by tear gas, rubber bullets and beanbag rounds during an anti-extradition protest in Admiralty.

There were allegations that some medical staff at the hospital’s accident and emergency ward had passed on patients’ personal information to the police.

But a three-member investigative panel set up by the Hospital Authority looked into the cases and found “no evidence” for the allegations.

However, it said the hospital was always overcrowded and that posed great challenges in protecting patients' privacy. For example, it said the triage station in the hospital and the patients' waiting hall were not clearly separated.

The panel recommended that the hospital improve the physical setting of its emergency department to better protect patient privacy, including the installation of a transparent partition at the triage station.

The panel also pointed out that in the past police officers could request labels with patients’ information from the hospital’s admission office for law enforcement purposes. The hospital admitted the “long-standing practice” compromised privacy protection and said it had stopped doing that already.