Hong Kong police, Hospital Authority agree to improve communications after tensions between staff over handling of anti-extradition bill protesters
- Force and authority had a meeting at police headquarters after relations between frontline health care staff and officers recently worsened
- Police had pulled officers from posts at two hospitals, saying it was to shield them from hostility, including verbal abuse from hospital staff
Hong Kong police and the operator of the city’s public hospitals on Friday agreed to boost communications amid tensions between staff of both sides over the handling of anti-extradition bill protesters, but the force was silent on when it would send officers back to their posts at two institutions.
The force and Hospital Authority had a meeting on Friday afternoon at police headquarters in Wan Chai after relations between frontline health care staff and officers recently worsened.
The force then pulled officers from police posts at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei and Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan on Wednesday and told them to patrol the vicinity instead. It defended the move, saying it was to shield officers from hostility, including verbal abuse from hospital staff.
Police said some health care workers had called officers “dogs” and “rogue cops”.
After Friday’s meeting, Rebecca Lam Hiu-tong, an assistant commissioner of police, said both sides had reflected concerns of their frontline staff. “Both sides agreed to review cases on each side and to actively follow up,” Lam said.
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She said the two bodies had agreed to consider forming a two-tier communication platform to strengthen contact. She said there would be regular meetings between representatives of the headquarters of the two bodies, and both sides would designate officers to keep contact.
“We hope there will be immediate communication over sudden incidents or collaboration to avoid any misunderstanding,” Lam said.
But she stopped short of giving a clear timetable on when round-the-clock services at the two hospital posts would resume. She only said both the force and the authority would need to look into cases mentioned in the meeting, and to minimise the chances that would create misunderstanding or conflict.
The authority’s quality and safety director Dr Chung Kin-lai, who also attended the meeting, said some public hospitals were already working with police over operational issues.
“We think this is a very good practice and we want to consolidate this, so as to make it a solid structure in all … hospitals with accident and emergency departments and district police [offices],” Chung said.
On police being pulled from the two posts, Chung said the hospitals were “trying to adapt to the new arrangement”.
He added: “This may not be the best situation but we fully understand and hope it will be rectified soon.”
Meanwhile, four nurses’ groups released a joint statement on Friday to urge health care workers to avoid bringing personal emotions to work. They also called for mutual respect between police officers and hospital staff.
Since the clashes, police have arrested 32 people, including at public hospitals. A source said some were arrested while getting medical care and at least one was detained before receiving treatment.
