The column for anyone fed up with bureaucracy, frustrated with delays or furious with poor service. Tell us your complaint and we'll try to fix it ... A patient of the Hong Kong Eye Hospital, run under the Hospital Authority, says some of its doctors are rude and inconsistent with their diagnoses. She also says several doctors have failed to warn her of the side effects of a prescribed drug, which may have contributed to her knee pain. 'I am very suspicious about the professionalism of the doctors in the hospital. I suffered from inflammation of an optic nerve in 1999. The syndrome recurred and my vision got worse late last year,' she wrote. 'Then, an ophthalmologist referred me to the Eye Hospital. This time, a doctor there roughly diagnosed the disease as the previous one and refused to perform further tests. He prescribed Prednisolone tablets (an oral steroid) without telling me of possible side effects. 'After that, different doctors were assigned for my follow-up consultations and the prescription varied according to their judgment. After about six months, I started to get knee pain. A private practitioner said it was a side effect of the Prednisolone tablets. 'Every time I go for follow-up consultations, I ask the doctors for details about my disease but some of them seem quite impatient in answering my questions. One doctor didn't tell me the drugs he prescribed for me were incompatible with my asthma medicine. If I had not asked him, I would not have known, until something happened.' The hospital says it is routine for a patient to see a different doctor for each consultation. 'In line with all public hospitals, the Eye Hospital uses a team approach to take care of patients. A patient is attended to by a team of doctors for follow-up treatment. Different doctors may have different approaches in communicating with patients. However, high standards are ensured through a system of training and supervision. 'In general, when oral steroids are prescribed, it is standard clinical practice to inform and explain to patients the possible side effects of the medicine.' A North Point reader wants to know why there has been 'a big hole' and heavy equipment outside Tin Hau MTR station on Electric Road, with no end in sight. 'The site narrows the road and blocks a taxi stand, creating a bottleneck,' she wrote. 'Since the powers-that-be decided to install fences around a car-waiting area ahead of the taxi stand, most pedestrians - looking to take a short cut to the MTR - pour into the narrow road, creating more opportunities for accidents. 'When will the construction work end?' The department says it regularly receives complaints and admits there has been a delay in finishing the work. But a senior department engineer promises the underground project - to replace old and faulty drains - will finish by the year-end. 'We had to dig a shaft to carry out the work. Since it's underground, people can't see work being done daily and may assume the site is just left idle,' he said. The contractor was too optimistic in projecting when the work would be completed. 'It will be over by the year's end and the site will be restored to its original condition with flowers and plants.' Raymund Corpuz of North Point says he is being overcharged for renting basketball courts at the Lockhart Road indoor sports centre because they are a fourth smaller than most courts at other centres run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department. 'I have been using these basketball courts for quite some time,' he wrote. 'Normally, the charge for each hour is equivalent to that of four badminton courts ($59 x 4 = $236). At Lockhart Road in Wan Chai, the basketball court is smaller and is only equivalent to three badminton courts. Why is the charge not $177 per hour?' The department says it charges by the type of sport played, not the size of the court. 'The hire charges for most sports facilities at sports centres are set on the basis of a specific type of sports activity irrespective of size or area. The hire charge for a basketball court at a sports centre is set on the basis of basketball as a sport rather than on the size of the individual basketball court,' a department spokesman said. 'According to the Federation Internationale De Basketball (Fiba), the international standard dimension of a basketball court for official competitions is 28 metres x 15 metres. (Fiba's previous standard for official competition was 26 metres x 14 metres). 'Some of the sports centres were designed and built at the time when the previous standard prevailed and the size of those basketball courts is therefore 26 metres x 14 metres. Due to site constraints, it may not have been possible to increase court dimensions to reach the new standard. However, they still meet the minimum dimension accepted by Fiba. The dimensions of the basketball court in the Lockhart Road Centre are 26 metres x 14 metres.'
