Doctors criticised control standards
The Department of Health was accused by two senior doctors of failing to implement effective contact tracing to control the spread of Sars at the start of last year's outbreak, the Legco inquiry was told yesterday.
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong said the dean of Chinese University's medical school, Sydney Chung Sheung-chee, and Fung Hong, chief executive of the Hospital Authority's New Territories West cluster of hospitals, had raised their concerns with him on March 20, 10 days after the Sars outbreak began at Prince of Wales Hospital.
The two doctors had told him that the contact-tracing work carried out by the Department of Health was 'not as vigorous as before'.
'The solution to this problem [disease spread] was a good infection control policy and effective contact tracing,' Dr Yeoh said, recalling the conversation.
'My main recollection of our conversation was their expressed concern about the contact tracing done by the Department of Health ... Their perception was [the department] was not carrying out the contact tracing with the same vigour as before.
If the contact tracing was not done effectively and efficiently, the infection would be even more rampant.
'I was very concerned relating to the allegation that because someone was sick that it seemed to appear that the contact tracing work was not continuing with the same vigour,' Dr Yeoh said.
'Dr Yeoh also told the Legco inquiry yesterday he had played an 'active role' in the control of the outbreak in Amoy Gardens by instructing former director of health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun to take immediate action to identify sick residents and to isolate people from Block E.
Amoy Gardens was the residential complex worst hit by Sars during the outbreak, with 329 infections and 42 deaths.
The health chief claimed that he phoned Dr Chan about 11pm on March 28, instructing her to immediately send a team to identify residents from Block E who had developed symptoms but had not been sent to hospital.
Dr Yeoh also claimed he had urged Dr Chan to excise her power to isolate the residents from the block.
Meanwhile, the Legislative Council yesterday postponed the appearance of the director of the Chief Executive's Office, Lam Woon-kwong, who was to give evidence on behalf of Tung Chee-hwa.
Instead, Mr Lam will give evidence next Saturday.
Legislator Lo Wing-lok said members had not had time to study a document supplied by the Chief Executive's office.
