Public Healthcare Fee Adjustment Plan to Be Announced Soon: HA Believes Tiered System Will Not Increase Frontline Staff Pressure

The public healthcare fee adjustment plan is set to be announced soon, with sources indicating that emergency room (A&E) fees will be divided into two tiers, increasing charges for cases ranging from urgent to non-urgent. The Hospital Authority (HA) stated that it hopes adjusting fees will alleviate pressure on A&E departments and believes the tiered system will not add stress to frontline staff.

The last A&E fee increase was in 2017, when it rose from HK$100 to HK$180. According to sources, A&E fees will now adopt a tiered structure: patients in critical or life-threatening conditions will be exempt from charges, while fees for other patients will be raised to levels comparable to private clinics.

There are external concerns that the tiered system may increase pressure on frontline triage nurses, potentially straining doctor-patient relationships. The HA responded that there are currently well-established triage guidelines in place and expressed confidence in staff’s ability to handle the changes.

Dr. Siu Yuet-chung, Chairman of the HA’s Coordinating Committee in Emergency Medicine, said: “Nursing colleagues will classify patients based on their condition, medical history, and vital signs. If a patient’s condition worsens, they can contact our frontline triage nurses for reassessment, including a review of vital signs and reclassification.”

Last year, nearly 2 million people sought treatment at A&E departments, with more than half classified as semi-urgent or non-urgent. Among urgent cases, only about 76% of patients are currently seen within 30 minutes. The HA hopes that adjusting fees will change patients’ healthcare-seeking habits.

Dr. Wong Lap-yee, HA’s Director of Quality and Safety, said: “We hope to reduce their use of A&E services, allowing us to focus resources on urgent patients and further shorten their waiting times. Many illnesses are time-sensitive, and the shorter the wait, the better the outcome.”

As for how much waiting times could be reduced after the fee adjustment, the HA noted that no specific plan is available yet, making predictions impossible until further government announcements.

The HA also mentioned that information about nearby family doctors and general outpatient clinics is already displayed in A&E departments, encouraging less urgent patients to seek care there instead.