Hospitals should draw up guidelines to decide what priority should be given to emergency patients queueing for brain scans, the Ombudsman says.
The recommendation came after an elderly stroke patient died after an urgently needed diagnostic scan was delayed for hours, according to his family.
Yik Cheung, 71, was admitted to Kwong Wah Hospital on August 12 last year and a doctor said a brain scan was urgently needed to pinpoint the nature and extent of the stroke.
But he had to wait for more than four hours and ended up as the last of 22 patients to have a scan that day. He died from a massive stroke the next morning.
In his latest report, the Ombudsman ruled that the family's complaint of medical negligence was not substantiated, but recommended drawing up brain scan guidelines.
'Not only will guidelines help remind medical professionals the basic factors in the decision process, but also help them to have an overview of the relative priority of urgent cases.
