Doctors need to work on communication: survey

Hongkongers are generally satisfied with the care provided at the city's hospitals, but they say communication with doctors is inadequate and they're not given enough information when discharged.

That's according to a survey of patients at seven public hospitals. Chinese University was commissioned by the Hospital Authority to carry out the study of 5,500 patients in hospitals within its seven groupings in September last year.

About 80 per cent of those polled gave a good overall rating, but the hospitals scored much lower when it came to communication with patients.

More than half of the patients said medical staff failed to tell them about the side effects of medications when they were discharged from hospital.

And 31 per cent of the patients said they - or their relatives - had not been given "enough opportunity" to talk to a doctor.

"Further training for staff would be a step in the right direction," said Hospital Authority chairman John Leong Chi-yan.

The hospitals were given scores out of 100 based on patients' answers to the 19 questions, with 100 being the best.