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| Keep warm and healthy to avoid clogging the public health sytem (File) |
The Hospital Authority is set to launch a series of measures tomorrow, Dec. 1, in response to the likely surge in demand for services at the accident and emergency departments as a result of the sudden drop in temperatures.
At the same time, the HA has appealed to
the public to get vaccinated for seasonal flu, and complete their Covid-19
doses to reduce their and their family’s risk of being infected.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
The moves come as the temperature
plunged to about 20 degrees from 27 late this afternoon, and is forecast to
drop further to between 13 and 16 degrees in the next two days.
According to a government statement, the
HA has allocated over $700 million to arrange facilities and prepare staff to
enhance service for patients during the expected surge in demand for services.
HA chief manager Dr Michael Wong
explained this means public hospitals have the resources to open temporary beds
and deploy enough manpower should the need arises.
"General out-patient clinics service will be enhanced by an addition of 18 000 service quotas, including around 3 500 quotas during the long holidays. More clinics will provide service during Christmas, Chinese New Year and Easter long holidays, to cover more districts," Dr Wong added.
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| PINDUTIN PARA SA DETALYE |
But at the same time, Dr Wong said the HA will strengthen its gate-keeping against unnecessary hospital admissions.
The Emergency Operation Command should be able to mobilize facilities and resources at any time to cope with the rise in service demands.
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Meanwhile, the HA will continue working with the private sector so suitable patients may be transferred to private hospitals for treatment to avert an overflow of patients in public hospitals.
The HA is also asking the public's help to prevent an overflow at the
A&E departments. Non-urgent patients are advised to go to general outpatient
clinics (GOPC), private doctors or the 24-hour clinics of private hospitals.
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| BASAHIN ANG DETALYE |
To choose a suitable family doctor and related clinic service, they can check the Primary Care Directory of the Food and Health Bureau at www.pcdirectory.gov.hk.
To help those who need to access public hospital services during the winter surge, the HA will display key service statistics, A&E waiting times and medical consultation information at the designated website www.ha.org.hk/goto/wintersurge/en and in "Service Surge Online" on the "HA Go" mobile application from tomorrow onwards.
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