Hong Kong authorities are reviewing whether any civil servant neglected their duties in a 15-year delay by the Medical Council in handling a complaint against a paediatrician linked to a boy’s permanent disability.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau told media on Sunday that delays had occurred in different areas that were not supposed to happen throughout the process of handling the case of newborn Li Yuanjian, after his mainland Chinese parents filed the complaint in 2010.
The infant suffered a seizure at Hong Kong Baptist Hospital in Kowloon Tong in December, 2009 and was later left with cerebral palsy and quadriplegia, rendering him unable to care for himself.
Asked whether the council’s secretariat, which falls under the Department of Health, had neglected its duties, Lo said the case had been referred to the Civil Service Bureau.
“The Civil Service Bureau will handle it. Hong Kong’s civil service system has an established mechanism. Regarding cases that may involve civil servants with unsatisfactory performance, the mechanism will have a suitable arrangement,” he said.
Lo did not disclose how many staff were involved or their ranks.