COVID-19 patient capacity boosted

July 29, 2020

Hospital Authority Chief Manager (Patient Safety & Risk Management) Dr Sara Ho:

Concerning the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, we started a bridging programme before the launch of the community treatment facility in AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE). So for the bridging programme, we utilise one cubicle of a tier one isolation ward. We will identify some younger patients with mild symptoms. We will do some check-ups for them, including blood tests, chest X-rays, and also take their clinical history. If we identify these patients as low-risk, we will start transferring these patients to the Lei Yue Mun community isolation facility.

As this programme just started today, the number of patients is not a big number. It’s mainly a bridging programme - it’s not supposed to be a long-term measure - so as to facilitate the admission of patients and also the testing of the model before the proper launch of the AWE community treatment facility. 

And you have mentioned about the patient support call centre, it’s originally a telephone consultation (service) to support those discharged patients. We mobilised some of the nurses in this existing service to support those confirmed patients (who are) still waiting to be admitted (to hospitals). 

We want to provide (them with) some general information about infection control measures that they need to observe at home and some admission guidelines. And also, we want them to have some health advice so as to alleviate their anxieties and concerns and at the same time, we can monitor their conditions. We will leave a telephone number for them in case they have any concerns or worries. They can also call back to seek advice from our nurses.

(To watch the full press briefing with sign language interpretation, click here.)

The Hospital Authority today said it is using all available resources to admit more COVID-19 patients.

Its Chief Manager (Patient Safety & Risk Management) Dr Sara Ho told reporters at a press briefing this afternoon that the authority understands that people who have recently been notified that they are positive for the virus have to wait before they can be hospitalised.

The authority is using all available resources to boost hospital isolation facilities to admit more patients, she said, adding that the community treatment facility at AsiaWorld-Expo (AWE), which will ease the pressure on public hospitals, can open as early as August 1.

Dr Ho added that Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital has also started a programme to filter younger patients and transfer them to the Lei Yue Mun community isolation facility before the treatment facility at AWE opens.

“So for the bridging programme, we utilise one cubicle of a tier one isolation ward. We will identify some younger patients with mild symptoms.

“We will do some check-ups for them, including blood tests, chest X-rays and also take their clinical history. If we identify these patients as low-risk, we will start transferring these patients to the Lei Yue Mun community isolation facility.

"It’s mainly a bridging programme - it’s not supposed to be a long-term measure - so as to facilitate the admission of patients and also the testing of the model before the proper launch of the AWE community treatment facility."

Additionally, Dr Ho pointed out that the authority is utilising its patient support call centre to support confirmed COVID-19 patients who are still waiting to be admitted to hospitals.

“We want to provide (them with) some general information about infection control measures that they need to observe at home and also some admission guidelines.

“And also, we want them to have some health advice so as to alleviate their anxieties and concerns and at the same time, we can monitor their conditions.”