Lawmakers say health officials 'cheated' Tseung Kwan O residents

Lawmakers have accused health officials of backtracking on a planned obstetrics unit due to open at Tseung Kwan O Hospital this year, saying they had "cheated residents".

In a Legislative Council meeting yesterday, officials acknowledged demand for the service in the area and said it would be offered when they had the staff to do so, without giving a timetable.

Lawmakers responded by questioning the government's staffing and resources planning in the health sector.

The criticism came as officials explained the measures announced in last week's policy address to balance the public and private medical sectors - including ways to ease the staffing shortage in public health.

Legislator Alice Mak Mei-kuen, of the Federation of Trade Unions, told the health services panel meeting: "Just now we were asking about the manpower shortage problem [identified in the policy address] and it seemed like it was being well handled. Now we're talking about Tseung Kwan O Hospital, which won't open an obstetrics service because of a manpower shortage."

Lawmakers in 2008 approved a budget of HK$1.95 billion to expand the Tseung Kwan O Hospital, including opening an obstetrics department. But the government shelved the plan in 2011 because of a shortage of medical staff. Health officials yesterday elaborated on that decision.