7th June 2023 – (Hong Kong) The Hospital Authority (HA) announced on June 7th that it will proactively follow up on the recommendations made by the Review Committee on Medical Equipment and Facility Maintenance (the Committee). The Committee, led by Chairman Mr. Wan Man-yee, spent the past three months analyzing the causes of various incidents and consulting with staff and professionals in the industries. The Committee made 23 recommendations on improving maintenance of medical equipment, conducting building safety inspections by in-house staff, and making use of technology to strengthen patient and staff safety.
The Committee concluded that incidents related to the maintenance of medical equipment and facilities were caused by ageing buildings and facilities, with over 300 buildings managed by the HA, more than half of which were completed more than 30 years ago. The ever-increasing demand for hospital services also led to heavy usage of medical equipment and facilities for a prolonged period of time.
The Committee made several recommendations to address these issues, including expanding the establishment of biomedical engineering staff, establishing procedures to provide checking and supervising to the maintenance service by contractors, and setting up depositories with clear and documented procedures in indexing and maintaining the manufacturer’s service manuals.
To address facility maintenance issues, the Committee recommended establishing rolling inspection and maintenance programs and scheduled planned maintenance programs for buildings according to age, usage, uniqueness of the structural/building fabric design, history of spalling, and risk profile. The Committee also recommended employing modern technology and tools/equipment for inspection, monitoring, and evaluation of building conditions, as well as progressively employing a full team of relevant disciplines of building professionals in each of the seven Clusters.
The Chief Executive of the HA, Dr. Tony Ko, expressed his gratitude to the Committee for their valuable recommendations and said that the HA will proactively follow up on relevant recommendations and implement the concerned measures as soon as possible according to hospital operations and needs. The HA will also introduce advanced technology to assist in inspection and assessment to enhance patient and staff safety.
The HA is reviewing reports submitted by outsourced vendors and will proceed with legal procedures according to the terms and conditions under the contract to look into relevant liabilities by the vendors. The safety of patients and staff members is the HA’s utmost concern, and departments concerned will formulate detailed follow-up plans and report on work progress on a regular basis. A hospital safety committee will also be established to strengthen supervision of hospital safety matters.