Leung said last week that mainlanders who did not have a Hong Kong husband would not be allowed to give birth at private hospitals next year. He also said children born to mainland parents would not be guaranteed residency and has suggested he will tackle the right of abode issue through legal means once he takes up office on July 1.

'If a patient is at our hospital already and requires treatment, we need to give her the service regardless of her identity and race,' said Dr Yu Kai-man, head of obstetrics and gynaecology at Union Hospital, Tai Wai. 'We will not turn her down or pick and choose patients. This is not ethical.'

Yu said the hospital had continued to perform maternity checks for pregnant mainlanders whose husbands were non-local and 'we expect that the first batch of bookings for 2013 will start next week'.

He said the hospital already had plans to deal with these bookings.

'We will not accept any deposits from these women, so that we don't give them false hope,' he said.

'A letter will be presented to them to explain the current situation, including the possibility that the pregnant mainlanders may not get through the border and that the babies may not gain permanent residency under the new policy.'

The private Baptist Hospital in Kowloon Tong said it was 'undecided' whether to obey the limitation.

Secretary for Food and Health Dr York Chow Yat-ngok admitted earlier that the government was unable to issue a complete ban on private hospitals accepting pregnant mainlanders if they decided not to co-operate, as licensing conditions could not restrain the hospital from accepting a certain type of patient.

Officers at the border meanwhile are getting ready for a big increase in their workload.

Ngai Sik-shui, Immigration Service Officers Association vice-chairman, said several hundred extra officers would be needed to turn back pregnant mainlanders, who could only enter Hong Kong by presenting a delivery booking certificate issued by the Department of Health.

Meanwhile, Dr Chow Pak-chin, an adviser on medical issues to Leung's election campaign, said in a radio interview that he believed the core job of the local medical sector was to serve local people first. Serving non-residents and making profits should come only if hospitals had spare resources.

'We can say that some private hospitals are not abiding by their reason for existing, so much so that Hong Kong citizens cannot get the service they deserve,' said Chow, an eye doctor and vice-president of the Medical Association. 'This has harmed our people.'

The problem was not limited to private hospitals, he said. Even public hospitals were running out of beds and operating rooms, hindering access by Hongkongers in need of medical help.

The first priority for the new government, Chow said, would be to inject more resources into both the private and public medical sectors in the right balance.

Referring to Leung's proposed zero quota, he said: 'We must [so to speak]stop the bleeding first, and then we can do other things and check-ups ... [just like] how we treat a wounded person.'