'Many Factors Affect Transfer Of Non-Covid Patients'

A representative of private hospitals said on Friday that they shouldn't be entirely blamed for the low usage rate of beds at their facilities set aside for non-Covid patients to be transferred from public hospitals.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau recently expressed concern about the situation.

Figures released by the government on Wednesday showed that the overall utilisation rate of the 364 private beds in question has been less than 50 percent, with Adventist Hospital on Stubbs Road failing to take in a single public hospital patient since late July.

But the chairman of the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, William Ho, told an RTHK programme that there are a number of reasons why a patient transfer may not happen.

He said for example at St Paul's Hospital, which he manages, they have only been able to take in around 40 percent of the patients the Hospital Authority wanted to send over, as some suffered from dementia or were suspected to have Covid.

"The Hospital Authority needs to provide us with more detailed information. There have been some documents missing in some cases and there have also been patients that needed to return to a public hospital for examinations, making them unhappy."

Speaking on the same programme, the Hospital Authority's chief executive, Tony Ko, said the situation is improving, but private hospitals need to move quicker in accepting individual patients.

"Sometimes they took quite long to consider whether to take in the patients. As you all understand, our patient rotation is quite quick, we can't wait a day or two for the answer and arrange the transfer. We can't really wait that long," Ko said.

He added that it is understandable that private hospitals are concerned about taking in older patients or those suffering from chronic illnesses that require extra care.

Ko said it's crucial for the private beds to be utilised, being as the number of Covid infections is increasing.