Transcript of remarks by CS, SCST, S for Health and SHYA after LegCo Ante Chamber exchange session (with photos/video)
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Reporter: Can you recap in English how the Government is assisting those affected in the Jordan fire? There have been two fires in a row, how will the Government prevent similar incidents from happening again? And Mr Lo, can you tell us why there is a need to provide a cross-border ambulance service? What is the importance of this service?
Chief Secretary for Administration: It's very sad to learn that the fire case this morning led to five people being killed, and more than 20 being injured. I feel very sad. The Fire Services Department, upon receiving the call, has immediately arrived at the scene to put out the fire. We have opened some centres for those affected, and our Care Team (District Services and Community Care Team) members and also the District Officer are there to assist them. The Social Welfare Department has sent officers there as well to see how we can help them. The Fire Services Department and the Police are investigating the reason why (the) serious fire happened this morning. Later, the Fire Services Department will hold a press (stand-up) to explain further details.
Secretary for Health: With the development of the Greater Bay Area and the increase in the number of Hong Kong citizens travelling, residing, retiring and living in the Greater Bay Area, we see an increasing demand for cross-boundary healthcare services, including the need for some patients who are in-patients in hospitals to be transported across the boundary. The current arrangement is far from satisfactory in the sense that patients have to change between two ambulances at the boundary area. This sometimes would cause concerns over the quality of care and the safety of patients, so what we are now planning and will soon implement is point-to-point transfer between dedicated hospitals in Hong Kong and those in Shenzhen and Macao.
The new arrangement under the pilot scheme will first involve patients coming back from Shenzhen or Macao to Hong Kong. That is point number one. Secondly, it will only be implemented between dedicated hospitals. This time, the pilot hospitals will be the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital which we are all familiar with in Shenzhen, and the government hospital in the peak area (Conde S. Januario Hospital) in Macao.
We will have to make sure that all arrangements, including vehicles, medical personnel, machines and also the medicine and drugs to be used in the ambulance, are legal for use across the boundary. We are making all these logistical arrangements. We have also got the endorsement from the Medical Council (The Medical Council of Hong Kong) regarding the limited registration for those cross-boundary doctors coming from Macao and Shenzhen. We will soon be running a trial run, probably at the end of this month or in early May, in order to make sure that everything is smooth before we implement this. Thank you.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, April 10, 2024
Issued at HKT 14:15
Issued at HKT 14:15
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