Separate fees for Hong Kong’s public medical services ‘could lead to abuse’

Requiring Hongkongers with non-urgent medical needs to pay separate fees for lab tests and scans at public hospitals could lead to abuse of emergency services in the hopes of getting free help, a former health official and a patients’ rights group have warned.

Dr Luk Che-chung, a former chief executive of the Hospital Authority’s Hong Kong East area, said on Monday that he largely agreed with a government proposal to implement the new fee mechanism to relieve pressure on the public system.

But advocacy group Hong Kong Patients’ Voices said the extra charges could push underprivileged residents to delay seeking a diagnosis or to skip getting any help.

Last week, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said the government planned to introduce itemised charges for certain services at public hospitals for outpatients that were previously included in the standard visitation fee.

The list would include services such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, and is part of efforts to address increasing demand and long waiting times for such checks.

The median waiting time for non-urgent patients seeking a CT scan in the public healthcare system was 69 weeks in 2023-24, and 92 weeks for an MRI, while most urgent cases for both scans still needed to wait about three weeks.