What about us? Hong Kong’s non-Covid patients want public hospitals to allow regular check-ups again
- People with chronic conditions have missed check-ups as hospitals focused on Covid-19 patients
- With fifth wave of infections easing, patients ask authorities to restart services gradually
As the city’s fifth wave of infections rose sharply in February, the Hospital Authority scaled back non-emergency and non-essential services to let public hospitals focus manpower and resources on those with Covid-19.
That meant patients with chronic conditions and serious illnesses had their regular check-ups and treatments deferred. Now they hope that with the fifth wave of infections easing, they will be allowed to see their doctors again.
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Andy Tang*, a 59-year-old construction worker with advanced-stage skin cancer, had to postpone his check-up at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei in mid-March, after it was designated a coronavirus facility.
He was anxious when the staff there could not fix a date for his next appointment. “I was afraid my condition would worsen,” he said.
When two weeks went by, he saw a private doctor who referred him to the private Saint Teresa’s Hospital in Kowloon, where a course of chemotherapy treatments cost HK$290,000.
Tang underwent one round of chemotherapy, using up most of his savings of about HK$40,000.
