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Mortuaries targeted by reforms

Ella Lee

Reforms will soon be launched to minimise blunders at hospital mortuaries, including standardising the colours of plastic bags used by the 31 hospital mortuaries to contain corpses, body parts and clinical waste.

The authority plans to install closed-circuit televisions at all mortuaries and will conduct six-monthly audits on their operations. In the long run, the authority will also explore the possibility of installing alarm systems at mortuaries to monitor any unauthorised removal of bodies.

The Hospital Authority will announce details of the reforms at a meeting of the Legislative Council's health services panel on Monday.

A senior authority source said: 'Right now the practice varies among different mortuaries. The colours of bags used for keeping bodies and clinical waste are different from one hospital to another, and the ways staff wrap bodies are also different. Such a confusing situation has to be changed.'

The source said Queen Elizabeth Hospital kept small bodies in cardboard boxes to avoid mix-ups.

'It could be an example for other hospitals to follow. We are still studying the details,' the source said.

The six-monthly audits would check if staff at mortuaries followed good practice. Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital revealed on Tuesday that the body of a baby boy had disappeared from its mortuary.

On Wednesday, health minister York Chow Yat-ngok condemned the authority over the incident, saying it was hard to believe and he was 'very much disappointed' and saddened.

The authority's chief executive, Shane Solomon, said yesterday that he accepted the criticisms.

'I feel the same way. If our staff have done something wrong, we have to take appropriate action,' he said.

Asked if the authority should review its disciplinary action on staff, Mr Solomon said each case had to go through a 'fair process'.

'We have to look at individual cases very carefully,' he said.

Mr Solomon declined to comment on whether the latest incident would affect his three-year contract.

An authority spokesman said yesterday that Mr Solomon's appointment would expire at the end of next month and the matter was being processed by the authority board and the government.

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