Medics set up extra beds and offer phone consultations to free up space at packed wards
Doctors and nurses at overloaded public hospitals say they are having to set up beds in corridors and offer telephone consultations to free up space on wards stretched to breaking point as the winter flu surge grips the city.
The situation at private hospitals was reportedly equally dire yesterday, with one in Sha Tin saying its children's ward was 100 per cent full and new patients might need to wait up to 24 hours for admission.
The occupancy rate at public medical wards was 110 per cent, according to Hospital Authority figures, meaning temporary beds were being laid out between existing beds or along corridors.
To voice their dissatisfaction with the heavy workload, two doctors' groups and medical sector lawmaker Dr Pierre Chan are set to hold a forum at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei tomorrow. Their action comes after Sunday's protest by the Association of Hong Kong Nursing Staff over staff shortages.
"More beds have been added in those wards but nursing manpower has not been increased," said Cecilia So Chui-kuen, president of the Hong Kong Nurses General Union. A 34-bed ward might now have 40 to 50 beds, while a 45-bed ward would have increased to 60, she said.
"It would be fine if new patients were admitted to a ward one by one, but if two or three are transferred in at the same time, it is really hard to handle," So said.
The flu outbreak continues to sweep through education facilities. Some 384 kindergartens and childcare centres had reported an outbreak as of yesterday, prompting authorities to bring forward the Lunar New Year holiday for such facilities to curb the spread.
A veteran public hospital paediatrician, who asked not to be named, said doctors and nurses were frustrated because they felt no improvements had been made in the past 30 years.
"There is no reason we should let this situation repeat itself over and over again It is unacceptable," he said.
Worse still, the wards could become so overcrowded, he said, that some doctors asked for sick children not to be admitted.
Staff instead would phone their homes to check on their condition, he said.
Union Hospital in Sha Tin, a private facility, yesterday said its paediatric wards were 100 per cent full.
Patients requiring admission might need to wait up to 24 hours, it said.