Toilet checks stepped up after patient death

All toilets at public hospitals' accident and emergency ward are checked every hour since yesterday, including those for the handicapped, and some hospitals will begin giving out location tracking devices to patients when they wait for doctors' consultation from the third quarter of this year, the Hospital Authority announced.

The change came two days after a 58-year-old woman with chronic diseases was found dead in a waiting room toilet at Eastern Hospital's Accident & Emergency department on Monday following a 12-hour wait.

An authority spokesman said inspections will be stepped up at patient waiting areas in A&E departments at public hospitals, and toilets will be inspected every hour.

"We are very concerned about patients' safety and the Hospital Authority understands public concerns on recent cases of patients' conditions changed when waiting at the A&E waiting area.

"[The authority] is introducing a series of measures in enhancing manpower in monitoring patients' conditions with immediate effect, in order to enhance patients' safety."

The authority will also install motion sensors in accessible toilets at some hospitals' A&E units. This will alert medical staff if a patient falls or if there is no movement for a while.

A location tracking pilot scheme will be launched in some emergency rooms in the third quarter.

Doctors will hand patients a tracking device, and nurses can check their location. "If medics find anything unusual about the patient, they can find the patient immediately and offer assistance," the spokesman said.

Yesterday, Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said patients waiting for as long as 12 hours at a public A&E is not ideal, as he assured public hospitals are still capable of handling a surge in patients amid the peak of the flu season.

After a health service panel meeting, Lo expressed his condolences to the woman's family, adding that authorities will take appropriate measures after a coroner's inquest into her death. "Since the case has been passed to a coroner, I believe we will understand more about the patient's condition at that moment after further investigation, and then we will see what can be done for improvement," Lo said.

He claimed that the Hospital Authority has been improving manpower supply in hospitals in various ways, including the Greater Bay Area Healthcare Talents Visiting Programs that saw 83 Guangdong health professionals arrive in Hong Kong earlier in the week.

He urged patients to first visit the general outpatient clinics or private clinics to help shorten the waiting time for patients who need urgent care in A&E.

When asked if public hospitals are capable of handling the recent surge in Covid cases, Lo said the city has built up herd immunity towards the coronavirus and was confident that public hospitals can cope with the new wave of infections.