The Hospital Authority will progressively standardize the caller identification number prefixes 18285 and 18286 starting on Tuesday (May 26) to prevent citizens from ignoring emergency medical alerts due to promotional calls or scam fears.
Under the new arrangement, calls made from public hospitals, family medicine clinics, specialist outpatient clinics, healthcare institutions, and the Authority's head office will adopt a number between 1828 500 and 1828 599 or between 1828 600 and 1828 699 to assist the public in identifying incoming HA calls.
The change is expected to be fully implemented by late June.
Authority officials noted that the standardized displays aim to reduce instances where citizens miss critical updates from emergency departments or wards because they mistake the callers for telemarketers or phone fraudsters.
If the public calls back the numbers, an automated recorded message will play to identify the specific public hospital or clinic that originated the call. However, selected operating units will still retain direct lines or mobile numbers based on daily operational needs.
