Private and public services urged at four new hospitals
Four planned private hospitals should offer both private and public services, with doctors working in them serving both, the Hospital Authority chairman says.
Anthony Wu Ting-yuk said the health care sector had to think outside the box regarding the new hospital projects, which would offer opportunities to enhance private-public partnership.
'The new hospitals should break down the wall between the public and private sectors,' Wu said. 'For example, they could have one block for public patients, another for private patients, and one for doctors' offices and clinics. The two sectors could share common facilities and services such as X-ray, scans, laboratory tests and catering.'
On Monday, the Food and Health Bureau called for expressions of interest for developing the new private hospitals in Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po, Tung Chung and Wong Chuk Hang. The hospitals are expected to provide a total of 1,500 to 2,000 new beds in eight to 10 years.
More than 90 per cent of all inpatients still receive heavily subsidised services at public hospitals. Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has pledged to make health care one of the city's six new economic pillars. Hong Kong lagged in developing health care as an industry, Wu said. In Australia and Singapore, there were blocks of doctors' offices next to private hospitals, and Hong Kong could follow the example, he said.
'Doctors with a clinic next to the hospital can take care of their patients in a more efficient way. They should be allowed to see both public and private patients in the hospitals so expertise can flow freely.'
To attract private doctors to the new hospitals, the operators could offer them a long lease, Wu said.
At present, private doctors can admit patients only to private hospitals, and public doctors are not allowed to practise in the private sector unless they become part-time staff. The Hospital Authority has been trying to recruit part-time private doctors to help the overstretched public doctors but the response has been poor.
'The boundary between the sectors is now too rigid,' Wu said. 'We hope that the new hospital projects would come up with new models for better public-private interface.'
The new private hospitals are expected to provide more 'moderately priced' services to relieve the pressure on public hospitals.
'Some public hospitals patients are [from] the middle class who opt for public services because their insurance plan does not cover the private services, which are too expensive,' Wu said. 'We need more private services with lower price and more transparency.'
He gave an assurance that the government would not cut resources for providing care to the poor.
'Resources for the Hospital Authority are increasing. The new hospitals would provide more choices to patients.'
He said that in the long run, Hong Kong should develop medical tourism for higher economic gains.
'Land is too expensive in Hong Kong, but with the new high-speed rail [line] being planned, we can travel to Guangzhou within an hour.
'We can make use of cheaper land in the Pearl River Delta. For example, Hong Kong operators can set up health centres in Guangdong that refer patients to Hong Kong for hi-tech procedures. People trust Hong Kong medical services because of our skills and high ethical standards.'
The University of Hong Kong and the Shenzhen authorities this month signed a memorandum of understanding for the planning of the 2,000-bed Binhai Hospital.
It will be Shenzhen's biggest public hospital and a second teaching hospital for HKU.
The authority will also take part in the project by providing management skills.
'The authority has established systems like the electronic patients records and procurement systems,' Wu said. 'We can share these experiences with the mainland.'
