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Anti-epidemic for one year. Interview | More than 1,500 public hospital patients referred to private hospitals: breaking the box

2021-01-25T00:19:30.029Z


The epidemic of the new crown pneumonia spanned a year, and the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong exceeded 10,000. At the beginning of last year (2020), the war was looming. Public hospitals cancelled a number of non-emergency outpatient clinics, surgeries and examinations in order to concentrate their staff on the new coronavirus.


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Written by: Zhang Meilan and Zhu Haiqi

2021-01-25 08:00

Last update date: 2021-01-25 08:00

The epidemic of the new crown pneumonia spanned a year, and the number of confirmed cases in Hong Kong exceeded 10,000.

At the beginning of last year (2020), the war was looming. In order to concentrate manpower to deal with the new coronavirus, public hospitals cancelled a number of non-emergency outpatient clinics, surgeries and examinations, and added 7 public-private partnership projects (referred to as PPP). In the market, more than 1,500 people participated in the medical treatment.

In an interview with "Hong Kong 01", Director of Network Services of the Hospital Authority, Yang Digang, said that the awareness of the virus is increasing, the stock of protective equipment is sufficient, and the proportion of non-emergency services to be reduced in each wave of epidemics has also decreased. 4 of the 7 PPPs are about to complete their tasks Will end.

Ho Siu-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Private Hospitals, criticized that the number of patients referred by the Hospital Authority is only a handful. "One or two resident specialists are more than enough."

Yang Digang admits that there are not many figures on the perception, but the scope of attempts to change the PPP has been greater than before, especially for cancer treatment and fracture surgery that broke the box, and the private market has also reported that the number of referrals is endless.

[Fifth series of reports on the first anniversary of the fight against the epidemic]

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The new coronary pneumonia was still unknown pneumonia early last year. No one knew its infectious power, mortality rate, and treatment methods. Everyone's fear stems from the unknown.

Hospitals are no exception. After the first confirmed patient from Wuhan arrived in Hong Kong on January 23 last year, the use of protective equipment increased sharply. The stock once dropped from 3 months to 1 month. In early February, there was a large number of medical and nursing strikes. The bureau needs to reduce non-emergency services to save the lives of the dead to ensure manpower and equipment.

The overall service volume has been reduced by 30-40%

The first wave spanned from February to June last year to the second wave. It was the time for Hong Kong to recognize the virus.

Yang Digang recalled that in order to significantly reduce non-emergency services by 60% to 70%, surgery was the most affected item. In the third wave, there were community isolation facilities, and they were also assisted by AsiaWorld-Expo. The overall service volume was only reduced by three. To 40%; in the fourth wave of speeding up the opening of the AsiaWorld-Expo, there is generally no further reduction in services. Only some items are still reduced by 15% to 20%, and diagnostic items such as X-rays and computer tomography for early detection of diseases are no longer Reduced, "(the amount of service) is not much different from the previous year without the epidemic."

For the services that have been cut, the HA has not only used the "Special Remuneration Scheme" to attract medical staff to work overtime to recover the service volume. It has also introduced 7 PPPs, such as gastroscopy, cystoscopy, jaundice treatment for newborn babies, caesarean delivery and fracture surgery. On December 31 last year, a total of 1,502 patients participated.

Yang Digang said that the selection of the seven PPPs was based on the impact on patients after the cancellation of services, whether the patients can continue their care in the public hospital, the supply in the private market, and the willingness of patients.

Chairman of the Private Hospitals Association: Few patients referred by the Hospital Authority

Under the epidemic, there is a lot of consumption in the private market that can help public hospitals to "clear the dragon." He Zhaowei, chairman of the Hong Kong Private Hospitals Association, pointed out that residents of the new crown pneumonia are afraid to be admitted to the hospital and proactively postpone most regular checkups. Other infectious diseases and sports trauma patients The number of foreign patients has been greatly reduced, and the number of foreign patients has disappeared. Private hospitals have ample beds and can receive more public patients. However, the number of referrals from the Hospital Authority is very few, describing that "one or two resident specialists are more than enough."

Yang Digang agrees that the number of referrals seems to be small, but it is already a large-scale attempt for the HA. Before the epidemic, 8 PPPs have been implemented, and 7 additional projects have been introduced during the epidemic. The types of projects have more breakthroughs. "RT (Radiation of Cancer Patients) Treatment), breast cancer surgery, it’s just going out if you haven’t experienced cancer before.” And another PPP fracture surgery is also an urgent treatment. “Break the box, let’s try non-cancer surgery, and try cancer surgery again. He specifically mentioned the huge scale of the diagnosis PPP, "so big that some Service Providers can say, "Hey you are a lot (patients)," and he has to take care of his own patients."

Ho Siu-wai also revealed that the number of CT scans and MRI scans referred to private individuals has increased significantly. It is estimated that the scans are to monitor the spread of cancer cells in the patients. However, the epidemic has blocked the services of the HA, so the authorities increased the number of referrals. .

There are private hospitals with public-private collaboration winning bids and zero referrals

The Hospital Authority’s PPP cooperated with private hospitals through bidding. The St. Paul’s Hospital under the jurisdiction of Ho Zhaowei won the bid for a project six months ago, but the authorities did not refer any patients. “There is no patient”. The criticism process is unclear and lacking transparency. Private hospitals "get a word (preparation for winning the bid)".

In response, the Sanatorium and Hospital also stated that it provided radiotherapy services at the request of the HA, but did not receive referrals from patients. PPPs such as radiotherapy services at Stubbs Road Adventist Hospital, caesarean delivery and breast cancer surgery also faced the same situation.

Yang Digang: In the bid-winning hospital, select those with affordable prices and refer them

The PPP bids under the epidemic situation are different from the past. Yang Digang explained that all private hospitals were invited to bid, and in order to avoid delaying the treatment of patients, only the quality was considered when selecting the bids, and the bids would be won if they met the standards. Later, the bid winners would be selected from the bidding hospitals. It helps speed up the process. "Hospital A accepts 100 mosquitoes, and hospital B may have 80 mosquitoes in the same case...Are they all public funds? How about 100 mosquitoes if you do the same thing?"

He also said: "Patient safety is Number One (the first). I don’t even mind the money, but after doing a good job in the field, everyone can do the same as Quality. I want to play another role. I can spend a lot of money, because I save a few more mosquitoes, and I can help one more patient." After the epidemic, his index book will take the price into consideration as usual.

The HA has more than 29,000 beds to care for inpatients, 7.64 million specialist outpatient visits, and 6.12 million general outpatient visits. Although there are more than 10,000 patients with new coronary pneumonia in Hong Kong, the number of patients with other diseases is in the hundreds of thousands However, their well-being in the past year has received little attention, and PPP is one of the "shortcuts" to get them treated.

He Zhaowei: The effect is slight, just a small test

He Zhaowei believes that in the past year, public and private hospitals have spent a lot of effort, but "the effect is small, just a small test." However, it helps to clarify the roles of both parties. The future development depends on the government's financial considerations and implementation efforts.

Yang Digang feels that PPP has changed drastically in the past year, and he has provided valuable experience. He is determined to expand PPP to benefit more patients.

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Source: hk1

All news articles on 2021-01-25

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