Population rise spurs health push for islands

North Lantau Hospital should have more resources and manpower to keep up with demand from the growing outlying island population, a Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong member of the Legislative Council said.

Chan Hok-fung said yesterday health-care options for outlying islands are insufficient as the population for Lantau grows and more communities are formed.

Some 183,000 people live in Islands district, government statistics show.

But only two large hospitals - North Lantau Hospital and St John Hospital in Cheung Chau - serve the islands.

Chan said the two are unable to provide adequate services due to lack of resources and understaffing.

"St John does not provide any specialist treatment service, so elderly and disabled patients must regularly journey for hours to hospitals in urban areas like Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole, Queen Mary and Grantham hospitals," he said.

While North Lantau Hospital offers some specialist treatments, it is unable to handle emergency cases.

Emergency or serious patients will still need to receive treatment in Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung, with Chan saying "some patients have to wait half a day in North Lantau before they are told to transfer to Princess Margaret."

Amidst rising Covid cases, residents of outlying islands are also experiencing delayed treatment.

A 22-month-old toddler with Covid symptoms was rushed to St John Hospital on July 28, where a doctor recognized the danger inherent in her condition as she had a high fever of 41.4 degrees Celsius and a heart rate of over 200 beats per minute.

It took over two hours before she was taken to Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan by helicopter, where she passed away five days later.

"There is a lack of general practitioners and nursing homes on the outlying islands due to lack of resources, despite the high demand as population rises," Chan said.