Secretary for Health Prof Lo Chung-mau visited Tuen Mun Hospital today to get a better grasp of the latest service situation at the hospital.

Prof Lo inspected the accident and emergency (A&E) department and its extension site, which will be opened for use soon, as well as the medicine and geriatrics ward.

He then met the hospital’s management and frontline healthcare staff to learn more about its service demand situation and manpower deployment.

The health chief pointed out that normal travel between Hong Kong and the Mainland has fully resumed since February 6.

As such, he said despite a substantial rise in the cross-boundary flow of people to and from Hong Kong over the past three days, there is no significant increase in the number of non-eligible persons seeking medical treatment at the A&E departments of public hospitals under the Hospital Authority.

Prof Lo stressed that the Government will continue to closely monitor the COVID-19 epidemic development and the demand for public healthcare services. He added that it will also ensure that the healthcare system has adequate ability and capacity, such that healthcare services will not be affected.

Together with today's visit to Tuen Mun Hospital, Prof Lo has already visited seven hospital clusters under the authority and Hong Kong Children's Hospital since early January.

During the hospital visits, apart from taking a closer look at the measures implemented by various hospital clusters in response to the winter service surge, he stated that he is also delighted to have had the opportunity to meet with frontline healthcare staff and listen to their opinions and suggestions on various aspects such as hospital services and manpower deployment as well as hardware support and the long-term development of public hospitals in Hong Kong.

Prof Lo said: "Amidst the COVID-19 epidemic over the past three years, frontline healthcare colleagues have been facing tremendous pressure with a heavy workload, especially when hospital expansion projects are still in progress in many hospitals and the working environment is not favourable.

“Nevertheless, they still make the well-being of patients their prime concern, staying on duty to continuously enhance the quality of healthcare services for patients under limited resources and conditions, upholding the spirit of professionalism and 'treating patients as relatives' to safeguard the health of the public and Hong Kong's healthcare system.”

The health chief thanked all healthcare staff, expressing that he is deeply moved and sincerely grateful for their contributions and efforts.

Noting that public hospital services form the cornerstone of Hong Kong's healthcare system, he emphasised that he is committed to adopting a multipronged approach to strengthen the supply of public healthcare manpower, improving public healthcare services continuously through different channels and strengthening hospital infrastructure, etc to ensure the sustainable development of the public healthcare system in Hong Kong.