Hospital Authority vows to revive public trust as stories emerge of protesters arrested after personal details leaked by city-run facilities
- Leung Pak-yin, chief executive of the Hospital Authority, announces new task force to boost data security
- Move comes as protester’s account of hospital arrest deepens public doubt
Hong Kong’s public hospital operator has promised to win back public trust by enhancing its patient data system after reports emerged of injured protesters being arrested because city-run medical centres leaked their information to police.
Leung Pak-yin, the chief executive of the Hospital Authority, announced on Thursday that a special three-member task force would be set up to identify ways to protect patients’ medical information. He said the task force would take three months to explore new technologies that might boost security and add another firewall to the authority’s data system.
“The task force will see how to better protect patients’ privacy in a comprehensive manner,” Leung said. “In recent days, citizens had become suspicious about [the authority’s] privacy protection. I apologise for that.”
Leung’s pledge comes after a young protester’s account of being arrested at a public hospital had deepened concern about how city-run medical facilities protect patients’ data from the police – especially in the aftermath of recent anti-extradition violence.
The recent Baptist University graduate, who asked to be called “Ah Yuen”, was treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in the evening of June 12, hours after being hit in the head with a tear-gas canister during the clashes with the police. The violence erupted after a mammoth protest march against the government’s extradition bill that ended outside the legislature in Admiralty.
Ah Yuen said he and his friend chose to seek treatment at a public hospital across Victoria Harbour in Yau Ma Tei to avoid any possible tension from the demonstration in central Hong Kong.
To their surprise, both men were arrested, Ah Yuen told the Post. He accused a nurse of tipping off the police duty officer at the hospital of their involvement in the riot.
At least three similar cases – of protesters arrested at public hospitals after seeking medical treatment – have come to light in recent days. The Hong Kong police did not release a list of the protesters who had been arrested at hospitals. In total, 32 protesters have been arrested for taking part in the June 12 protest.
The Hospital Authority, the body that manages all the city’s public hospitals, said it never authorised medical staff to report on protesters to the police. The public has remained sceptical.
Leung said the authority had so far confirmed that one protester was arrested at Yan Chai Hospital in Tsuen Wan. He said frontline medical staff at some hospitals, including Queen Elizabeth and Kwong Wah, had reported cases of protesters being arrested while waiting to be treated,
He said those reports were difficult to confirm because the protesters had never been treated and had not had their information recorded in the data system.
“We should also allow some time for our colleagues to decide on the definition of arrest,” he said. “If someone asks [a protester] something, does that count as an arrest?”
Hong Kong officials try to ease tensions as more protests threatened
He added that hospitals could only launch investigations after receiving complaints, but so far none had been filed.
Ah Yuen, who is in his mid-20s, was part of the demonstration that demanded the bill be shelved.
In the midst of chaos, he was hit by a tear-gas canister fired by police.
At about 5pm on June 12, he was accompanied by an uninjured friend to Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Ah Yuen said he was feeling dizzy from the head wound, which left a bruise on his forehead. In his words, his arrival caught the attention of the police officer on duty at the hospital but he did not reveal the source of his injury.
He said the treatment was normal and told the nurse that he was hit by the tear gas canister and had been to Admiralty that day. According to Ah Yuen, the nurse took the matter to the duty officer.
She told me afterward: we’re just doing our job
The Hospital Authority did not respond to this allegation when asked for comment by the Post.
“After she written down my injury situation, she then asked the officer ‘How do you write tear gas?’ in Chinese,” Ah Yuen said. “She told me afterward: we’re just doing our job.”
After being treated and given medication, Ah Yuen and his friend were stopped by police officers, arrested for rioting and detained.
Although he said he never told the nurse about his role or location in the protest, he was still questioned by the police about the details of the day’s clashes.
“The officers arrested me on suspicion that I was involved in a riot in Admiralty,” Ah Yuen said. “They asked me ‘Where do you come from? Where exactly were you [in Admiralty]? What were you hit by?’ They also asked why I was there and what time I arrived.”
The men were released unconditionally the next day.
Ah Yuen said he was never involved in any violence at the protest. He said he did not push against police barriers or throw any objects at officers.
“I was only caught in the middle of the crowd at the time,” he said. “I feel very innocent. My friend and I never resorted to violence, so why are we even arrested?”
He said that led him to speculate that the nurse had reported his case to the police. He said he reserved his right to file a complaint against the hospital. He said he was so scared of being arrested again that he might stop attending rallies in Admiralty.
Internet users, meanwhile, have called for citizens to lay siege to public hospitals until the management reveals who passed patients’ information to the police.
Leung said the authority had already informed the Fire Services Department to divert ambulances when necessary, but he also urged citizens not to “act on an impulse”.
“Nobody wants to see treatment being delayed because ambulances cannot drive into hospitals due to the siege,” he said.
Additional reporting by Su Xinqi
