Prescription for hospital safety

More medical engineers should be hired as more than 350,000 medical equipment maintenance work is being conducted at public hospitals each year, a Hospital Authority review committee on facility mishaps suggested yesterday.

The committee said the authority should focus on enhancing maintenance of hospital facilities, introduce more technology and have internal staff carry out inspections regularly.

The authority's chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing said each public hospital will set up its own safety committee chaired by the hospital chief.

The committee was formed in March to review the maintenance of medical equipment and facilities and provide advice on policy direction following incidents of collapsing ceilingsn and concrete chunks peeling off walls and roofs of public hospitals.

After holding nine meetings and inspecting all seven clusters, committee chairman Wan Man-yee suggested recruiting more medical engineers to monitor contractors carrying out maintenance work on-site in accordance with the risk classification. The authority currently has 15 medical engineers.

It also suggested centralizing all purchases of medical equipment and major maintenance contracts for new hospitals to the authority's head office and establishing a system to verify the identity of the contractors' maintenance workers.

More than half of the authorities' 300 buildings were over 30 years old, and the inspections are conducted by 20 to 30 outsourced consultants every three years.

As the authority has 740 staff members for building inspection and structure maintenance, it would be sufficient if staff members inspect the hospital buildings themselves, the committee said.

"I hope that they will behave as if the facilities were their own house, so as to increase their sense of responsibility for building safety," Wan said.

Ko said he plans to set up a safety committee in each public hospital aimed to strengthen the supervision of safety matters.

"If we find out that there are similar problems in different hospitals, then we need a centralized coordinated initiative. We can do it together both at the head office and the local level."

The hospital committee will be chaired by the chief executive, and members will include staff in administrative affairs and property management, as well as front-line medics, Ko said.

Director for strategy and planning Ching Wai-kuen said the authority has been cooperating with local universities in introducing new technologies to assist in inspection work, including monitoring the maintenance of building's concrete and ceiling conditions.

Lawmaker Edward Leung Hei said enhanced monitors were needed at hospitals undergoing redevelopment projects where concrete and equipment breakdowns have occurred.

He supported medical engineers monitoring contractor's maintenance and repair work, but suggested reviewing contractors' performance for future contract renewal.

stacy.shi@singtaonewscorp.com