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Provision of CAT scanners
Following is a question by the Hon Frederick Fung Kin-kee and a reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
With regard to the provision of CAT scanning service, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)
(b)
(c)
Mr President,
of the total number of CAT scanners in the hospitals managed by the Hospital Authority;
of the respective figures for 1993/94 and 1994/95 regarding the average daily operating hours of the CAT scanners, the average daily number of patients receiving CAT scanning examination, and the average period of waiting for an appointment to use such service; and
whether the Hospital Authority has referred its patients to private hospitals to receive CAT scanning examination; if so, what are the numbers of such cases in 1993/94 and 1994/95 respectively?
There are 10 CAT scanners currently installed in public hospitals managed by the Hospital Authority, capable of handling about 230 patients on a daily basis. Six of these scanners have been operating on a 24-hour basis since 1993, except for one each in Queen Mary Hospital, Caritas Medical Centre, Kwong Wah Hospital and Ruttonjee Hospital where radiologist and other supporting staff are put on call outside normal operating hours to provide service for patients.
Under the established clinical practice, all urgent patients will be examined by CAT scanners on the same day. Non-urgent patients are prioritised according to their need and the waiting time for treatment for eighty per cent of such cases is within four weeks. This will be reduced further with a planned addition of two new scanners within the next financial year.
With the implementation of hospital clustering and service networking, there is no operational need to refer patients for CAT scanning outside the public hospital system. Some patients with non-urgent conditions may prefer to obtain earlier examination in the private sector but no statistics are kept on the number of such cases.
End/Wednesday, March 8, 1995