Medical care at Queen Elizabeth Hospital could be jeopardised by a cost-saving plan to reduce staff by 200, it was claimed yesterday.
The chief of the hospital, the SAR's largest with 1,850 beds and 4,700 staff, admitted that if public health resources were reduced, patient services would be affected.
Chief Executive Dr York Chow Yat-ngok said that to meet the Chief Executive's order to improve efficiency by 2003, some staff might be 'involuntarily' transferred to Tseung Kwan O Hospital, which opens early next year.
'I think now we are still all right, but if resources are going to be more limited, I can't rule out the possibility that quality of services would be compromised in the future,' he said.
His hospital in Yau Ma Tei caters to a population of 900,000 in Kowloon, with a recurrent budget of $2 billion.
To achieve the required cut, at least $100 million has to be saved and staff numbers will have to be cut by 200, though Dr Chow said this could be accomplished by transfers or natural wastage, not lay-offs.
Dr Chow said that as 80 per cent of the budget went on staff costs, slimming the establishment was 'unavoidable'.