The Hospital Authority (HA) today said it regrets a vendor did not report the potential risk of using a faulty surgical light.

In a statement, the HA noted that the manufacturer and maintenance vendor did not inform the authority that one of its surgical lights had been reported to the US Food & Drug Administration due to a missing screw.

According to preliminary information, the HA had purchased one surgical light of the same model as the faulty one. However, after inspection it was deemed safe and could continue to be used. This model is not used in United Christian Hospital where a surgical light had fallen on February 18.

Following that incident, the authority followed up closely with the vendor and commissioned an independent engineering expert on incident analysis, Eric Lim to investigate and understand the cause of the incident.

The authority added that it will continue to seriously follow up on the incident and has ordered the vendor to continue to inspect the surgical lights in public hospitals, submit a report, and make appropriate and effective follow-up action to prevent similar incidents from happening again. It reserves the right to pursue relevant responsibilities against the vendor.