Pereira Coutinho questions gov’t on Islands Hospital laws and regulations

Lawmaker José Pereira Coutinho has put questions to the government concerning the laws and regulations to govern the Islands Hospital Complex, which the government has said will be entering into operation early next year.

In a written inquiry delivered at the Legislative Assembly yesterday, the lawmaker has questioned the government about the status of different items of legislation regulating the operation of the hospital, specifically the public-private management model, adopted by the government.

According to Coutinho, many aspects of the legislation need to be discussed and clarified. Given the government’s announcement that the facility’s construction would be completed by the end of this year, he urged the government to proceed as quickly as possible with the discussion of the legal matters.

Pereira Coutinho also wants to know how the hospital’s operations and management will be supervised and how the government plans to ensure that locals will have priority access to jobs at the new facility, which would be under the management of the Peking Union Medical College Hospital.

Following a meeting of the Islands Community Service Consultative Council on Tuesday, a member of the council reported the Health Bureau’s decision that during the first phase, the hospital would have limited capacity and would not be able to provide various services including emergency services at night. According to the council, the limited capacity of the hospital would be a direct result of the lack of medical and other staff.

The government had already announced on previous occasions that the opening of the hospital would be phased. However, it revealed neither which services would be provided nor the timetable for the different phases of the opening.