Queen Mary staff attack Legco for 'harsh and unfair' criticisms
More than 100 Queen Mary Hospital staff issued a statement yesterday condemning Legco criticisms of the government and Hospital Authority as 'harsh and unfair'.
In the statement, published in the Chinese-language newspaper Ming Pao, they urged more understanding for the authorities, saying that with hindsight, it was easy to criticise decisions made at the height of the crisis.
'We respect the investigation but regarding the criticism against the government and Hospital Authority, we think the criticism was harsh and unfair and we don't agree,' they said.
Princess Margaret Hospital issued a similar statement on Thursday, thanking everyone for their support during the outbreak.
Meanwhile, David Fang Jin-sheng, chairman of the Trust Fund for Sars, yesterday defended Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food Yeoh Eng-kiong, saying he had not misjudged the seriousness of the epidemic, as the public had assumed.
Dr Fang said in an open letter to Dr Yeoh that the misunderstanding of his accountability was fuelled by grief, frustration over political reform, and politicians who could not afford to lose votes.
'You [Dr Yeoh] cannot be blamed for the failure to recognise Sars in January and February of 2003. Atypical pneumonia in Guangzhou could not have alerted you if no other information was communicated to you,' he wrote.
Dr Fang doubted whether a move to put Sars on the first schedule of the Quarantine and Prevention of Disease Ordinance earlier would have made any difference. Dr Yeoh was blamed for delaying Sars' inclusion in the ordinance.
He said Sars was an unprecedented epidemic and questioned whether Dr Yeoh should have quit.
'Can this be the political accountability that we all want?' he wrote. 'Does this bear any resemblance to the democratic government we so fervently hope for?'
