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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
In response to the Ombudsman's investigation report released today (December 21), the Hospital Authority (HA) gave the following response:
The HA agrees to the contents and recommendations for improvement concerning the Non-Emergency Ambulance Transportation Service (NEATS) in the Ombudsman's investigation report.
NEATS was introduced in the mid 1990s as a transport service for people with impeded mobility requiring medical services.
Over the years, the HA has enhanced NEATS operations through various measures, including the merging of NEATS centres, enhancement of management control, and the tracking of performance and customer satisfaction. These measures have resulted, among other things, in a significant reduction in the number of "unentertained" cases.
Following the recommendations of the Ombudsman, HA will set up a Task Force to further review NEATS' performance standards, service monitoring mechanisms, improvement needs and resource requirements. The review will cover the waiting time for discharge or transfer cases and out-patients; and the possibility of engaging non-profit making organisations and commercial operators in service provision.
The Task Force will map out the improvement proposal after the review.
Ends/Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Issued at HKT 12:12
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