Hong Kong’s public hospitals have been feeling the strain amid a winter service surge, with waiting times at some accident and emergency departments exceeding eight hours on Thursday morning.
As of 6:30 a.m. on Thursday, the mean waiting time at the city’s 18 A&E facilities was more than four and a half hours, according to the Hospital Authority website. Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan, United Christian Hospital in Yau Ma Tei, and Tin Shui Wai Hospital, which serves Tin Shui Wai and Yuen Long, were reporting the longest waits at over eight hours.
“Waiting time display is capped at 8 hours amid a large number of patients waiting for a long time are being treated in the A&E Department,” the Hospital Authority said.
According to 2019 Hospital Authority data, the average interval between a non-urgent patient arriving at A&E and being seen by a medic was a little over two hours.
Delays to treatment come amid an anticipated surge in demand for healthcare services as the temperatures drop and as Covid-19 infections have risen steadily. The city reported 16,953 new cases and 50 related deaths on Wednesday.
“Public hospitals have reserved resources for opening temporary beds, and planning for manpower, such as encouraging and facilitating healthcare staff to join the Special Honorarium Scheme, and the ongoing recruitment of locum and part-time healthcare staff,” HA Chief Manager (Cluster Performance), Michael Wong, said last month.
Wong also appealed to people with non-urgent medical conditions to visit private doctors and general outpatient clinics rather than A&E departments. Wong’s comments were echoed by health authorities on Tuesday, when the government released its Primary Healthcare Blueprint to promote and develop a district-based healthcare system and, in turn, help reduce pressures on public hospitals.
For months, officials have been urging residents to receive vaccinations against Covid and seasonal influenza. Health chief Lo Chung-mau got both jabs in one sitting in September.
Because of tight pandemic controls, Hong Kong has largely escaped winter flu season over the past two years. However, that means people’s immunity to the virus is lower. In countries like Canada and the US, the illness arrived early this year.
From December 4-10, Hong Kong’s Centre for Health Protection reported 10 cases of seasonal influenza. The city’s winter flu season typically begins in January and lasts until March or April. In 2018, kindergartens and primary schools across the city were ordered to close amid a flu outbreak.
To date, Hong Kong has reported 2.4 million Covid-19 cases and 11,293 related deaths.
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