Hong Kong’s Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau (second right) leads a Hong Kong delegation during a meeting with officials from the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission in Shenzhen, as he continued his visit to southern Chinese province of Guangdong on March 30, 2023. Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam (third right); Chairman of the Hospital Authority, Henry Fan (first right); and Director General of the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, Wu Hongyan (first left) also attended the meeting. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong government is planning an appropriate model to cater for the medical needs of the special administrative region’s residents living in the mainland cities of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, according to the city’s health chief. 

Professor Lo Chung-mau said this on Thursday during a meeting between a Hong Kong delegation he is leading and officials of the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission in Shenzhen, as he continued their visit to Guangdong.

Meeting the commission’s Director General Wu Hongyan, Prof Lo said, “During the fifth wave of the COVID-19 epidemic in particular, the two places teamed up and co-operated in the monitoring and control of the epidemic as well as sharing of information.”

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He pointed out that the HKSAR government launched a special support scheme and commissioned the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital to provide subsidized follow-up consultation services for the Hospital Authority’s patients.

Hong Kong’s Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, delivers a speech at the launching ceremony of China's International Healthcare Accreditation Standards Hospital Accreditation in Shenzhen, on March 30, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

“The Hong Kong SAR government is currently planning to roll out a pilot scheme by taking reference from the success of the scheme so as to enable eligible people to keep enjoying subsidized consultation services at the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital, with a view to exploring and planning an appropriate model in an effective manner to cater for the medical needs of Hong Kong residents residing in the Mainland cities within the Greater Bay Area.”

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In the afternoon, the delegation joined the launch ceremony of China’s International Healthcare Accreditation Standards Hospital Accreditation. The event was co-organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, the Authority of Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Modern Service Industry Cooperation Zone of Shenzhen Municipality and the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center.

Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau (center), Director General of the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, Wu Hongyan (third left); Director of Health, Dr Ronald Lam (second left); Chairman of the Hospital Authority, Henry Fan (third right), and other attendees pose for a photo during a meeting between a Hong Kong delegation and the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission in Shenzhen on March 30, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVT)

Prof Lo said it was of particular significance for the delegation to attend the ceremony because in 2023-2024, two hospitals under the Hospital Authority will adopt the International Hospital Quality Accreditation Standards (2021 Version) compiled by the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center.

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“The move will contribute to the process for the nation’s hospital accreditation standards to go global, while ensuring that the management and service levels of hospitals are on par with international standards,” he added.