Cross-border hospital transfers widened to non-residents
A pilot cross-border ambulance transfer service designed to move Hong Kong patients from mainland and Macau hospitals for treatment would also ferry nonresidents in medical care mercy missions, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said.
He was speaking as a pilot scheme prepared to launch by the end of the month or in early May.
“The direct cross-border ambulance arrangement will not only be limited to Hongkongers,” he said after an antechamber exchange session with members of the Legislative Council.
“We should consider the requirements of anyone with medical needs, even those who are not Hong Kong residents.”
It signalled a change in scope of the Greater Bay Area scheme – previous chief executive Carrie
Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor in 2019 said the proposed service would be only for Hongkongers.
Lo said authorities would only consider patient welfare and ignore the place of origin of those in need of care. He added that Hongkongers and non-Hongkongers could require cross-border services, as some treatments, such as those for serious heart disease or paediatric conditions, were available in Hong Kong but not in neighbouring cities.
Lo said some patients in Macau had already been referred to Hong Kong healthcare centres for medical services.
“Hong Kong has quality medical services – if we have the capacity in certain areas, we will help neighbouring cities and their residents. I don’t see the need for ruling out this possibility.”
The cross-border service was first floated in the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau
Greater Bay Area, published by Beijing in 2019. Lam told lawmakers it would be for Hongkongers living across the border only.
Doctors and patients’ groups said at the time they were concerned that including non-Hongkongers would increase the strain on public hospitals in the city.
The latest details, submitted by the Health Bureau to Legco on Tuesday, said the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital on the mainland and Centro Hospitalar Conde de Sao Januario in Macau would be the first to send patients with particular medical needs to Hong Kong.
The service will allow a pointto-point transfer across the border between designated hospitals, unlike the present arrangement where patients are switched to a Hong Kong ambulance after they are taken to the boundary line by a mainland vehicle.
Lo said current arrangements were “far from satisfactory” as they raised concerns about safety and quality of care for patients.
The bureau said doctors would consider several criteria before transferring patients to Hong Kong. These included whether patients had clinical conditions that required cross-border transfer for treatment or rehabilitation. The journey would also have to not cause extra risks to patients and those transferred would have to be unsuitable for other types of cross-border transport.
Patients who could be discharged soon, or could continue to be treated at mainland or Macau hospitals, would not be eligible for cross-border transfer. The bureau said expected cases eligible for the scheme would number in the dozens a year.
Lo said the government was drawing up arrangements to ensure the vehicles, medical personnel, equipment and medicines used would be legal for use on both sides of the border.