Nine patients who arrived just as new higher fees took effect at Hong Kong public hospital accident and emergency departments on New Year's Day were charged the old rate as a discretionary measure, with operations running smoothly.
The A&E fee for stable, semi-urgent and non-urgent cases rose from HK$180 to HK$400 at midnight. At Kwong Wah Hospital, nurses distributed tokens before midnight to identify patients eligible for the old fee, with an announcement reminding those not registered to do so before the change.
After midnight, token distribution stopped. Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling and chief executive Libby Lee Ha-yun visited departments to observe the transition.
Lee said operations were smooth with no long queues or crowding. The borderline cases arrived around midnight before reaching registration. "Since you're already here and there's no queue, we decided to let you pay the old fee," she said.
Lee said the fee adjustment aims not to shorten waiting times but to ensure resources go to those in need, strengthening support for poor, urgent, serious and critical patients. About 35,000 applications for fee waivers have been received, within expectations.
Staff will be deployed over the next two weeks to assist the public, with communication efforts continuing.
