Patients living in Shenzhen and Macau will be able to enjoy direct ambulance transfers to Hong Kong public hospitals from Saturday under a pilot scheme, with healthcare professionals on both sides conducting a joint assessment to avoid abuse of the service.
Advertisement
Health authorities said on Friday that the pilot scheme, which will run for a year, aimed to deepen collaboration in the Greater Bay Area.
“[The pilot scheme] marks a new height in high-quality medical collaboration and development in the Greater Bay Area while addressing the earnest anticipation of residents in the [area],” said health minister Lo Chung-mau.
The bay area is Beijing’s plan to link Hong and Macau with nine southern mainland Chinese cities to create an economic powerhouse.
Under the scheme, patients who are deemed non-emergency or non-critically ill, and with specific clinical needs and conditions, could be transferred from the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital on the mainland or the Conde de Sao Januario General Hospital in Macau, to designated public hospitals in Hong Kong.
Advertisement
Authorities said the transfers would be a point-to-point arrangement to prevent patients having to change vehicles at the border and to minimise risks.
The sending hospital will assess whether patients need to cross the border for treatment or recovery on a case-by-case basis, taking into account clinical diagnosis and their condition, in a bid to avoid the service being abused.