Many of Hong Kong's private healthcare clinics treating cancer patients are potential "death traps" as they seriously lack safety measures, the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Hong Kong (SHP) has warned.

The society found that most of 19 such clinics located in Central fail to provide safe treatment for cancer patients requiring intravenous infusion services.

Of the 19 private facilities, located in 12 prominent commercial buildings, including Central Building, Melbourne Plaza, Prince Building and Admiralty Tower, only one or two have safety cabinets for dispensing medicines, and even these are not up to international standards.

President of SHP, William Chui Chun-ming, said about 90 percent of cancer patients require intravenous infusions, and private doctors often arrange for them to receive such services at their clinics after they had undergone their first chemotherapy at private hospitals.

"However, these private clinics, which provide intravenous drugs for chemotherapy, don't have sterile room facilities," said Chui, emphasizing that cancer drugs must be placed in a sterile environment, and the medical staff must be fully trained.

He said the commercial buildings involved have central air-conditioning systems, and this could lead to bacterial contamination because of the heavy flow of people.

It would be dangerous to conduct high-risk medical treatment/procedures under such a non-sterile environment for cancer patients in these commercial buildings, the society said.

It also warned that 90 percent of anti-cancer drugs used could, in fact, cause cancer, and medical staff must take adequate protective measures. All private healthcare facilities, except private hospitals, don't install sealed isolation cubicles for cancer drug allocation for their staff, and this would affect their safety.

Most of the clinics mentioned in the commercial buildings named did not answer calls from China Daily on whether they provide intravenous infusion services for cancer patients or whether they operate under a "sterile environment."

The society also urged the steering committee on the review of safety regulations of private healthcare facilities to extend its net to those clinics providing intravenous drugs for chemotherapy. The committee was set up following the death of a beauty salon client who received an intravascular infusion at a treatment center.

Committee member, Dr Samuel Kwok Po-yin, said their review would cover private clinics providing intravenous infusion services for cancer patients.

He said the type of facilities used for medicine allocation should depend on the type or requirements of medicines to be used for patients. But, the basic requirement is that there should be a sterile environment for medical operations, such as extractions, dilution and mixture of cancer medicine.

fanfeifei@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 10/16/2012 page1)