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No contract renewal for Hong Kong doctor who left liver patient in middle of transplant
Decision reached by University of Hong Kong, meaning Queen Mary Hospital will not work with him after this year
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The University of Hong Kong has decided not to renew the contract of a surgeon who caused a storm last year by leaving a liver transplant patient with an opened abdomen on the operating table at its teaching hospital to attend to another patient at a private hospital.
Dr Kelvin Ng Kwok-chai would no longer be hired by the university, after his contract expires in a few months, dean of medicine Professor Gabriel Leung said on Wednesday.
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Leung noted the decision had been made by the faculty of medicine’s human resource committee.
Ng, who serves as an honorary consultant at Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, the university’s teaching hospital, has a special part-time contract because of a manpower shortage. Under the arrangement, Ng, who earned his MBBS at HKU in 1995, is able to treat other patients at private hospitals in the city.
Probe of stranded liver patient prompts Hong Kong hospital to vow clearer guidance for honorary staff
On October 13 last year, Ng rushed to a private hospital to perform a scheduled procedure. The doctor had been in the middle of a liver transplant at Queen Mary and left his patient in the operating theatre for three hours.
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