Hong Kong hospitals to clarify facts, tell patients before revealing blunders
Hospital Authority revises guidelines for disclosing medical blunders, saying it sometimes ‘rushed’ announcements
Hong Kong’s public hospitals will require staff to first clarify the facts of medical blunders and notify patients and their families before revealing details publicly, as part of revised guidelines under governance and structural reforms.
Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said on Thursday it expected to implement most of the 31 recommendations earlier made by a review committee by June 30 next year.
Meeting the press after the quarterly board meeting, Fan denied that the reason behind the guideline change was simply to avoid being accused of disclosing mishaps too late, as the authority would have to take its time to ascertain more information in each case.
“It is because, in the past, we had to disclose them as soon as possible before the facts were actually ascertained. After checking the facts, we found that what we announced was wrong and had to correct them again, which made it confusing,” he said.
“Sometimes, we rushed to announce the incidents before the patients and their families were told of them. Of course, the patients would be upset as their privacy is more important than the public’s right to know.”
The new guidelines will be effective immediately.
