Pilot scheme for direct cross-boundary ambulances set for official launch tomorrow
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) government, in collaboration with the Guangdong Provincial government, the Shenzhen Municipal government and the Macao SAR government, will officially launch the one-year Pilot Scheme for Direct Cross-boundary Ambulance Transfer in the Greater Bay Area tomorrow (Nov. 30).
The first phase of the Pilot Scheme will start by arranging direct cross-boundary ambulance transfer of patients from designated sending hospitals in Shenzhen and Macao (i.e. the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital and the Conde S. Januario Hospital of Macao) to designated public hospitals in Hong Kong.
Under the mechanism of direct cross-boundary ambulance arrangements, upon assessment and agreement by the teams of designated cross-boundary collaborating hospitals, arrangements can be made for patients with specific clinical needs and suitable clinical conditions to be transferred directly to Hong Kong between designated hospitals in a point-to-point mode without the handover of patients between ambulances at boundary control points, thus minimizing risks posed to patients during transfer.
The Pilot Scheme has a mechanism in place to avoid abuse while ensuring the safety of cross-boundary transfer. Since medical conditions and needs vary among patients, doctors at the sending hospital will assess, on a case-by-case basis, the need for the patient to have cross-boundary inter-hospital transfer for continuous treatment or recovery services, taking the patient's clinical diagnosis and actual conditions into consideration. The doctors at the sending hospital will communicate with the Major Incident Control Centre of the Hospital Authority for joint assessment, information exchange and coordination with the receiving hospital to decide whether the transfer mechanism should be activated. The sending and receiving hospitals will also ensure that the patient's relatives and/or the patient have given consent to the relevant arrangements and are informed of the risks involved in the transfer.
The Hong Kong SAR government has been in proactive discussion and close collaboration with the Guangdong and Macao governments regarding the direct cross-boundary ambulance transfer arrangements. To make full preparation, the governments of the three places have conducted three drills in total in August and October this year, simulating the transfer of patients under the cross-boundary ambulance arrangements.
Subject to the effectiveness and operational experience of the Pilot Scheme, governments of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao will further consider arrangements for expanding the Scheme in its next phase.
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