Mammogram semi-urgent wait 8 months New Territories East need 1.3 years Doctor: Tumor has spread in months

This month (October) is the International Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The sooner a patient finds breast cancer, the better he can recover. One of the common methods to assist in the diagnosis of breast cancer is to do a mammography.

However, the waiting time of the Hospital Authority is far away. The median waiting time for even a semi-urgent case is 8 months, which has increased by more than 30% year-on-year, and the New Territories East Cluster is a "heavily affected area", reaching 1.3 The year is the best in Hong Kong.

Some doctors say that X-ray imaging is one of the important screening tools. If a patient has breast cancer, it can spread rapidly within a few months.

The patient organization criticized that "the second emergency case has some suspicions and may have symptoms, and it may be the early stage of breast cancer." It is difficult to accept that the waiting time is too long.

The Hospital Authority explained that in response to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, the radiology department delayed mammography according to the patient’s urgency, which prolonged the waiting time. As the epidemic slowed down, services began to return to normal. The New Territories East Network was due to a shortage of radiologists and The demand continues to increase.

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The waiting time in public hospitals has long been criticized, and mammography, which assists in the diagnosis of breast cancer, is no exception.

Emergency patients receive services in roughly two weeks, but semi-emergency and stable patients are "heavy-hit areas."

In terms of semi-emergency patients, the median overall waiting time for the seven clusters from 2020 to 2021 is 33 weeks, that is, nearly 8 months, an increase of 8 weeks year-on-year and an increase of 32%. Among them, the New Territories East Cluster has risen sharply in one year, and the waiting time The median is 69 weeks or 1.3 years, which is nearly two and a half times higher year-on-year.

It takes two years to stabilize the patient at any time

As for stable patients, the overall median waiting time for the seven clusters is 59 weeks, or 1.1, which is a 22% year-on-year decrease. The most exaggerated clusters are the Kowloon Central Network, which has reached a full two years (104 weeks), New Territories East and Kowloon West. The interconnection followed closely behind, waiting for 82 weeks (1.6 years) and 79 weeks (1.5 years) respectively. The waiting time for the Kowloon West Network fell by 55% year-on-year.

The waiting time for mammography in public hospitals is far away.

Mammography is a common screening tool

Surgery specialist Zhou Zhiyin said that mammography is a commonly used tool for breast cancer screening. "If you see it in detail, unformed breast cancer at an early stage will see the point of malignant calcification and the process of cancer cell growth. It's his whereabouts." She said that private hospitals do not have emergency and semi-emergency classifications, but public hospitals need to be triaged because they are overwhelmed. It is believed that they will be classified by age and breast hardness. Women aged 10 to 20 years old may be classified as semi-emergency even with breast pain, and the chance of finding breast cancer is low.

The waiting time for semi-emergency cases in public hospitals is long. Zhou Zhiyin mentioned that the tumor will spread within 3 to 4 months. Patients who have been waiting for a long time in public hospitals in the past may be transferred to the private market for examination and then returned to the public hospital for follow-up. save time.

Zhou Zhiyin mentioned that the tumor will spread within 3 to 4 months.

(Surgeon Mommy-Dr Lorraine Chow Facebook)

Peng Hongchang, secretary of the Association of Community Organizations, who cares about the rights and interests of patients, criticized that "the second emergency case has certain suspicions and may have symptoms and may be at the early stage of breast cancer." It is difficult to accept that the waiting time is too long. Number of periods.

Hospital Authority: Epidemic delays radiographic examinations

In response, the Hospital Authority explained that in order to cope with the new crown epidemic, the radiology department delayed the angiographic examination according to the patient's urgency. As the epidemic situation gradually improved, the examination service has begun to return to normal. The authorities are also committed to improving the waiting time, including at Eastern Hospital and Princess Margaret The hospital added a mammography machine each.

However, the authorities admit that there is a serious shortage of radiologists and radiologists, and it is necessary to continuously review the manpower situation and service demand.

As for the most exaggerated waiting time for emergency cases in the Eastern New Territories, the Hospital Authority explained that the New Territories East uses the cluster as a unit to coordinate and provide imaging services. During the epidemic, non-emergency examination services are adjusted and the number of service sessions is reduced, and there is a shortage of radiologists in the network. With the increasing demand, the network will provide additional service sessions "Clear Dragon" through the Special Honorarium Scheme (SHS) outside of normal working hours to handle the semi-urgent and stable cases due to the backlog of the epidemic.

Peng Hongchang questioned the inability of the Hospital Authority to solve the problem with SHS "Clear Dragon".

(Profile picture / Photo by Luo Junhao)

Patient rights organization: HA should consider launching a public-private partnership scheme

Peng Hongchang questioned the effectiveness of SHS, "Everyone asks SHS to sell blood. In fact, it is a vicious circle. Normal people sell blood miserably. According to the HA doctors who sell blood for anemia, they will sell blood and die from vomiting. More money for doctors, no matter how hard you work, it is basically a double loss. Doctors have to work hard, and patients have to wait patiently." He urged the HA to seriously consider launching a public-private partnership plan, understanding that the authorities would worry about the development of the private market. Prosperity will exacerbate the problem of doctor turnover, but now it can no longer be delayed. It must be dealt with with unusual thinking.

The HA has set a target number of weeks for emergency and semi-emergency new cases in specialist outpatient clinics, which are 2 weeks and 8 weeks respectively, and the public can monitor whether they meet the standards.

However, the authorities pointed out that there is no target number of weeks for urgent and semi-urgent mammography, that is, there is no "qualified" level.

Peng Hongchang believes that it is of little significance to formulate a service pledge at this stage. "You will not be able to do it if you order it." However, in the long run, the relevant targets must be announced so that the community can learn about it.

According to the authorities, if a patient is confirmed or suspected of having cancer, they will be included in the priority treatment category, and patient examinations will be arranged according to their condition.

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