By South China Morning Post | Created at 2025-03-31 14:26:13 | Updated at 2025-04-04 08:25:19
3 days ago
A database of patients’ post-operation wounds and automated medicine dispensing cabinets are among six measures Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority will adopt after a series of medical blunders last year, including one in which a patient found a piece of gauze left in his scrotum two months after surgery.
Authority chief executive Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing said on Monday the measures could improve monitoring of high-risk patients, reduce human error and improve the workflow of medical staff.
“We hope to make good use of technology to increase patient safety and the quality of care,” he said during a press briefing.
The measures were part of the authority’s response to 31 recommendations put forward last November by a special committee appointed by the authority to conduct a performance review ordered by the health minister, who said the series of medical blunders at public hospitals last year reflected a “systematic issue”.
The measures have already been tested at individual facilities ahead of their adoption at all hospitals
Dr Michael Wong Lap-gate, director of quality and safety, said the authority began testing a database to log patient wounds in December.
