Your report headlined, 'Patients forced to fly to Japan for brain surgery' (Sunday Morning Post, August 3), needs clarification. Although the Gamma Knife Centre at Canossa Hospital is privately run, it is our policy to make certain that no patient in Hong Kong who requires the treatment be barred from the facility because of lack of means.
All referrals from the Hospital Authority (HA) are charged at least 15 per cent less than private patients.
In addition, pre-operative consultation and daily attendance fees are waived.
The first follow-up Magnetic Resonant Imaging (MR) brain scan is complimentary.
Such a pricing policy compares well with other gamma knife sites in the world.
In contrast to some centres in Japan and around Asia, the Hong Kong centre has always used the most advanced technological upgrades such as the latest version of the treatment planning system, and DICOM III (Digital Imaging for Communication in Medicine) as part and parcel of the treatment. Most patients who have had gamma knife radiosurgery do not require second treatment. For certain rare indications, we usually allow three years to pass before we consider second treatment.