An empty corridor at the usually busy Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Hong Kong's Jordan where hospital staff are on a strike, Feb 4, 2020. (Calvin Ng / China Daily)

HONG KONG -  The Hospital Authority said it would recover the wages paid to some 7,000 medical staff in respect to their dates of absence from duty in February this year.

In a statement issued on Friday, the HA chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said public healthcare services were seriously affected in early February as thousands of medical staff were absent from duty without authorization.

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They went on a five-day strike at public hospitals from Feb 3 to Feb 7 in a bid to force a total shutdown of Hong Kong borders which they said would "curb the spread of the coronavirus".

The Hospital Authority believes that this arrangement has addressed the staff absence matter in a reasonable, lawful and fair manner.

Henry Fan, chairman, Hospital Authority

During the period, some elective surgeries, general out-patient and specialist out-patient clinic services were canceled, while operation of some clinical departments and emergency services were also affected, Fan said.

The HA has expressed its objection to the staff concerned and made repeated public appeals to urge them to return to work to maintain 24-hour emergency services and normal hospital operations.

The HA subsequently received thousands of instances of feedback, requests for assistance and complaints about the incident, Fan said.

After considering the legal advice, the HA issued a letter to the employees concerned, requesting them to confirm the days of absence and explain the reason behind them. Replies from more than 7,000 staff members have been received and the attendance records were verified to determine their actual days of absence.

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The Hospital Authority Board has decided to recover the wages paid to the employees in respect to their verified dates of absence from duty during Feb 3-7, 2020, Fan said.

The decision was made after discussion among board members and taking into consideration a variety of factors, including the Employment Ordinance and the employment contract.

The HA also decided that there would be no other human resources follow-up arrangement regarding this incident, according to the statement.

“The HA will recalculate the wages of the absent employees for the month of February 2020. The differences will be reflected in subsequent payroll. The HA believes that this arrangement has addressed the staff absence matter in a reasonable, lawful and fair manner," said Fan.

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Fan added that Hong Kong's healthcare professionals are highly commended for their professionalism, both locally and internationally, for always putting patients first and treating every patient equally.

“Their dedication to duties, which helped us overcome numerous public health crises, is also the expectation of the community and our patients.”