The number of mainland women giving birth in public hospitals has dropped by more than a third since the Hospital Authority raised obstetric fees for non-local women, but one in 10 of them left without settling their bills. This left the hospitals owed about HK$11.2 million, the authority said. Overwhelmed by an influx of pregnant mainlanders, the fees for non-locals were raised in February from HK$20,000 to HK$39,000, and HK$48,000 for those without a prior booking. According to a paper prepared by the authority, 2,646 non-locals - mostly mainland women - gave birth in the public hospitals in the first five months of the new charges, a 38 per cent fall from the 4,310 in the same period last year. About 20 per cent, or 537, did not have bookings, but this number was also well down. On average, two non-locals gave birth a day in June after admission through accident and emergency departments, compared with 24 in June last year. However, the problem of outstanding fees remains a headache for the authority. Between February and June, 18.6 per cent of the non-booked cases did not pay, while 33 per cent only paid a portion of their bills. Only 0.3 per cent of the booked patients left outstanding bills. Overall, 10.8 per cent of the non-locals did not settle their bills, accounting for HK$11.2 million. During the same period last year, 18.2 per cent of non-locals left with outstanding fees after giving birth, which amounted to HK$13 million. The authority estimates that HK$320.2 million revenue will be generated from the services for non-locals in 2007/08, representing an increase of 17.2 per cent from last year. It has so far pocketed at least HK$100 million since February. On the other hand, it estimates that the number of births by local women will increase by 11.2 per cent to 31,599 this year, while total deliveries in public hospitals will drop slightly by 2.5 per cent to 39,481. As the authority has projected that a surge in demand from this month to November may push the obstetric services to maximum capacity, it plans to scale down the non-urgent gynaecology workload, put the overflow of gynaecology patients to other female wards and use day and other ward facilities for antenatal and postnatal care. Arrangements to reduce staff taking leave during the peak months will also be made. Ella Lau, a local mother who helped organise a protest urging the government to address the overcrowded obstetric wards last year, appreciated that the measures relieved some pressure in the public wards, but she said there was still a shortage of obstetric services in private hospitals. 'The government should seriously look into the root of the problem that all babies born in Hong Kong can enjoy citizenship even if their parents are non-locals. Why do some mainlanders have to pay millions to join the investor migrant programme while some do not?' The authority will hold a board meeting tomorrow to review its measures on obstetric services. Fee deterrent The introduction of obstetric fees has led to a sharp fall in non-local women giving birth here The Hospital Authority expects the number of births by non-locals to fall from 12,072 last year to 7,882 this year, a drop of: 34.7%
