Medical accidents need experts assessment for malpractices: Ko

The government on Friday promised to create a unified reporting system for serious medical accidents at private as well as public hospitals. The pledge comes in response to a blistering criticism from the Commission of Audit, which blasted the Department of Health earlier for failures to regulate private hospitals, including allowing delays in reporting serious medical mishaps and chaotic service fees.

Among the criticisms: from 2008 to 2011, 56 percent of serious medical mishaps went unreported to the health department within the required 24 hours. In one case, a hospital took 259 days before reporting a medical mishap.

Speaking during a public hearing of the Legislative Council's Public Accounts Committee, Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said one of the four working groups under the Steering Committee to Review the Regulation of Private Healthcare Facilities will work to standardize reporting systems in both public and private sectors.

"Different private hospitals should also be subject to the same principles of reporting medical accidents," said Ko.

Ko pointed out that not all medical accidents are due to negligence. "To be classified as medical negligence, medical accidents need to be assessed by experts to see if any malpractices are involved," he said.

The working group of the steering committee on private healthcare facilities is mandated to bring private hospitals under tighter regulation. From 2007 to 2011, only three cases of serious medical accidents at private hospitals were revealed by the department.

According to the Director of Health, Constance Chan Hon-yee, while mishaps at public hospitals are reported by the Hospital Authority, private hospitals report by themselves, and not through the Department of Health, unless a case holds major implications for public health.

Ko said the department had accepted the recommendation made by the auditor to transfer cases of professional negligence to the Medical Council of Hong Kong or the Nursing Council of Hong Kong for investigation.

Ko also promised to establish a graduated rating system for warnings sent to private hospitals concerning regulatory breaches.

"Different degrees of violation will be shown by different grades of warning," said Ko. As to whether any sanction or fine would be assessed, Ko said that should be established by way of a legislative amendment.

Another issue concerning the transparency of private sector fees for medical services drew the attention of lawmakers. In response to some lawmakers' suggestions to standardize the charges at private facilities, Ko said the government is not in a position to impose a schedule of fees, since Hong Kong is a free market.

Ko added, however, he will encourage the private sector to charge for medical treatment on a "package" basis, meaning no extra fees will be assessed for different items.

stushadow@chinadailyhk.com

(HK Edition 12/01/2012 page1)