A group of Hong Kong residents condemn medical workers who were on strike from Feb 3 to Feb 7 at a press conference held by an alliance formed by victims of the strike on Wednesday. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)
People who suffered because of the five-day strike staged by medical employees in early February spoke out on Wednesday — some angry and in tears — as they recalled the problems and inconvenience the industrial action caused them.
An anonymous patient said he was livid when the hospital told him a screening test for a tumor in his body scheduled for mid-February had to be rescheduled for May because of the strike by medical workers.
Saving people is the duty of all medical staff. ...Strikes should never be a means for doctors and nurses to express their frustration
Chow Pak-chin, ophthalmologist
Beginning on February 3, a one-week strike was staged by some medical staff from public hospitals across the city, demanding a full closure of the border and better protective gear in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
According to the Hospital Authority, more than 5,100 medical employees were absent from duty only on Feb 5. This seriously affected some emergency and essential services at public hospitals across the city.
The 61-year-old man said he has had a long wait for a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan before February and he was longing for the test results as they will tell him whether or not he has cancer.
“You can imagine how angry and anxious I was when I knew I needed to wait three more months,” the man told China Daily on Wednesday.
New People’s Party Chairwoman Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee (center) speaks at the press conference in Tin Hau on Wednesday. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)
The man called the strike “ridiculous” as its slogan, “Save Hong Kong”, was the opposite of the anxiety and pain the strike brought to patients.
“How could they go on a strike for these goals but sacrifice patients’ interests? How could a group of people whose job is to save others be so irresponsible?” he asked.
In addition to a large number of delayed medical appointments, the five-day strike greatly upset the families of some patients.
The family of a patient, surnamed Sun, are very upset and extremely concerned that he died during the strike.
Sun’s daughter said her father, who was diagnosed with osteonecrosis of the femoral head, was transferred to a public hospital in Tuen Mun for treatment on the morning of Feb 7 — the fifth day of the strike.
The 50-something man, who had chatted on the phone with his wife in the evening that day, was found dead only two hours later in a bathroom.
A girl at the press conference holds up a placard denouncing the irresponsibility of medical workers who went on strike. (PARKER ZHENG / CHINA DAILY)
When Sun’s daughter and his wife recalled the darkest night in their lives, their eyes welled up with tears. Sun’s wife has been greatly distressed by his death.
“Why a person who was not allowed to walk and stand was found in the bathroom alone? Did the hospital have sufficient manpower that night to take care of my father?” Sun’s daughter has asked many questions, but the hospital still has not given her any answers as of Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, chairwoman of the New People’s Party, said the political party has received 23 requests from victims for assistance relating to the hospital strike.
Chow Pak-chin, an ophthalmologist who also attended the press conference, said striking doctors and nurses should have accepted their responsibilities and not participated in the strike.
Saving people is the duty of all medical staff, Chow noted, adding that strikes should never be a means for doctors and nurses to express their frustration.
