A pilot scheme for direct cross-boundary ambulance transfers has been expanded from Shenzhen to more areas of Guangdong province, following the successful transfer of a patient from Guangzhou’s Nansha district to Hong Kong on Wednesday.
The 69-year-old male patient, who had sustained serious injuries, has multiple fractures and a brain contusion. He was transported from the Nansha Division of Sun Yat-sen University's First Affiliated Hospital at noon on Wednesday, arriving at Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong via Shenzhen Bay Port.
The patient's family said that as his relatives are in Hong Kong, they wanted to bring him back for easier caregiving. The direct ambulance transfer eliminated the hassle of mid-journey transfers, sparing the patient a lot of suffering.
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The pilot program was launched in late 2024 between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, to achieve point-to-point transfer of non-emergency and non-critically ill public hospital patients.
About a year later, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government expanded it to designated hospitals in Zhuhai and Guangzhou’s Nansha district. The 69-year-old man became the first patient transferred from a Guangzhou hospital to Hong Kong.
To ensure the smooth implementation of the expansion plan, a special team from Shenzhen Customs completed the registration process in advance, and set up a dedicated channel for the ambulance.
Through multiple simulation drills, they continuously optimized the customs clearance procedures, achieving efficient quarantine inspections at the port in just one minute.
