The second batch of mainland Chinese medics arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday to support the city’s fight against its fifth wave of Covid-19. Health officials said they hoped Hongkongers would be “grateful” and “not think about complaints.”
Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam, Chairman of the Hospital Authority Henry Fan, and representatives from the China Liaison Office arrived at the Heung Yuen Wai border checkpoint on Wednesday afternoon to greet the Chinese medics.
During the daily Covid-19 press briefing, the Controller of the Centre for Health Protection Edwin Tsui and the Hospital Authority’s Chief Manager Lau Ka-hin were asked how patients could file complaints should any medical mishaps occur, as well as how members of the mainland medical team could be held accountable as they were not licensed locally.
In response, Tsui said he hoped that “people are with a grateful heart” as the doctors and nurses “came here to help us.”
“[It is] not necessary for us to say ‘if [we] have complaints, what is the method of complaining.’ I think at this moment, citizens under different conditions being able to receive treatment is the most important.”
Tsui said there were “of course” ways offered by the Hospital Authority for citizens to express their opinions.
Lau echoed Tsui’s remarks, and said the mainland medics “have left their family members to look after our Hong Kong citizens.” Lau also urged people to “rest assured,” as the recently arrived medics were all relatively high-ranking staffers at top hospitals in mainland China. “In fact, everyone is… professional with a high level of knowledge. They are elites,” Lau said.
Lau said any complaints about the Chinese medics would be handled by the Hospital Authority’s Patient Relations Officers “in the same way as with existing staffers.”
On Tuesday, the Hospital Authority told HKFP that it would bear the “final responsibility” should the newly-arrived mainland medics encounter problems during their stints in the city.
The city reported 29,272 new Covid-19 cases and 279 deaths on Wednesday. In total, Hong Kong has seen 761,550 infections and 4,568 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic as of Tuesday.
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