QUEEN Mary Hospital has launched a scheme to encourage public participation in the running of the hospital and improve the image of health care services.
Secondary and tertiary school students are being recruited to take part in daily hospital work as part of the Hospital Assistantship Volunteer Programme.
The volunteers will carry out mainly administrative work, such as research on staff benefits and arranging computer courses for staff, but will not be assigned medical and caretaking tasks.
Queen Mary general manager Raymond Wong Siu-keung said direct contact between the students and patients would not be encouraged.
''This is a question of the rights of the patients, the responsibility which will be taken by the hospital and the level of training of these students,'' he said.
The participants, each supervised by an experienced hospital staff, can choose their area of assistantship, which will last three or four weeks.
''The scheme aims to give the youngsters some general knowledge and hands-on experience in hospital work and to encourage public contribution to the hospital, which are also the objectives of the Hospital Authority,'' said Dr Vivian Wong Tam Chi-woon, the hospital's chief executive.