Private hospitals decry 15-minute target over maternity crises

Private hospitals have expressed strong opposition to part of a new government code of practice, which specifies an unprecedented 15-minute response time to maternity emergencies.

The Hong Kong Private Hospitals' Association, representing all of the city's 12 private hospitals, said a 'reasonable' response time for doctors should be judged on a 'case by case basis'. Hospitals worry that patients may use the code to sue doctors if they are one or two minutes late.

The Department of Health will later this month issue its second code of practice for private hospitals, following two maternal deaths this year. The first code was issued in 2003. Under the code, private hospitals would have to make a doctor - either a general practitioner or a specialist - available to attend a mother in fetal distress or suffering from maternal bleeding within 15 minutes.

The pledge is based on the standards adopted by Britain's health service. There have been between one and three maternal deaths in Hong Kong each year in the past decade.

The hospitals must also have a doctor rostered on at all times in three specialities: anaesthetics, obstetrics and surgery.

Association chairman Alan Lau Kwok-lam said the hospitals 'in general' welcomed the code as it would further protect patient safety. Regarding the roster for the three specialities, we are fine with it. However, we are against putting any specific response time requirement in the code,' he said. 'It is not practical.'

All private hospitals are required to have a resident doctor at all time to handle emergencies.