bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Patsy Moy

Seven public Chinese medicine clinics will operate next year and become part of Hong Kong's official medical services for the first time.

Six more clinics will be opened in 2004 and a further five in 2005, providing a Chinese medicine outlet in each of the 18 districts in the territory, said a source close to the Hospital Authority.

Four of the clinics are already operating - at Kwong Wah Hospital in Mongkok, Tung Wah Hospital in Sheung Wan, Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan and Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long - but they are funded and managed by charities.

They will come under the Hospital Authority under the plan. The locations of the other three clinics have not been finalised.

Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa outlined his determination to make Hong Kong an international centre of traditional Chinese medicine in his 1998 policy address.

Progress in setting up public clinics has been slow over the past two years, but the pace speeded up after former legislator Dr Leong Che-hung took over from Dr Lo Ka-shui as Hospital Authority chairman last month.

Under preliminary plans, the clinics will be partly subsidised by the authority but continue to be managed by charities. They will need to raise money to meet budget targets.

The source said that any patient who was unhappy after visiting a Chinese medicine clinic could lodge a complaint with the authority.

Leung Kam-fong, chief executive of the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, said the authority had started discussing the plan with the group.

He said they had long prepared for the move: 'Our computers in both Kwong Wah and Tung Wah clinics were designed in a way that they can hook up with the authority's system any time. We are just waiting for the time to come.'

Mr Leung said many details, such as charges, still had to be worked out. The source said the charges at all clinics would be standardised.

At present, both Kwong Wah and Tung Wah clinics, which are under Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, charge $80 for each visit.

The consultation fee is $30 at Yan Chai and free at Pok Oi. Patients at all four clinics need to pay for the Chinese medicine.

At the authority's hospitals, an out-patient consultation at a general clinic costs $37 and at a specialist clinic $44. In-patient services cost $68 a day.

Tim Pang Hung-cheong, a spokesman for the Patients' Rights Association, supported the plan, saying it would give public hospital patients an alternative source of treatment.

'We are happy patients will be given new services, such as alternative treatment, especially for those who have been diagnosed as incurable,' he said.

'However, more has to be done to enhance co-operation and communication between doctors and Chinese medical practitioners in public hospitals.'



Chinese medicine blueprint takes shape