Hong Kong public hospitals see complaints rise by a third, as public appreciation drops 12.4%

The title of this news article is 'Hong Kong public hospitals see complaints rise by a third, as public appreciation drops 12. 4%'. This indicates that there has been a significant increase in the number of complaints lodged against public hospitals in Hong Kong, while the level of public appreciation for healthcare services has seen a decrease. According to an annual report, the number of complaints against Hong Kong public hospitals has surged by more than a third. Concurrently, public appreciation for healthcare services has declined by over 10 per cent.

The Hospital Authority presented the report to the Legislative Council on Monday. The data revealed that public hospitals received 2,020 complaints between April 2022 and the end of March this year, marking an increase of 33. 6 per cent from 1,512 over the previous year. Over half of the complaints highlighted in the report, or 58 per cent, were related to medical services. The remaining complaints pertained to staff attitudes, administrative procedures, overall performance, and unspecified incidents.

Tim Pang Hung-cheong, a patients’ rights advocate from the Society for Community Organisation, suggested that the escalating dissatisfaction among public hospital users could be a repercussion of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'During the pandemic, numerous services were suspended or delayed,' he explained. 'Subsequently, when hospitals resumed services, they might have struggled to clear the backlog of those scheduled cases. ' Pang also mentioned that he had come across instances of individuals seeking assistance after their surgical procedures were postponed during the pandemic, with hospitals yet to schedule alternative dates. However, he noted that the number of complaints was comparable to the figures for 2018-19, which was deemed a 'normal' operating period for hospitals as it occurred prior to the anti-government protests in 2019 or the pandemic a year later. 'Even the number of complaints have returned to normal,' Pang stated.