The private medical sector and the Government have unanimously agreed to further tighten collaboration in the prevention and early detection of SARS.

The agreement was reached during a meeting between the Department of Health and representatives from 12 private hospitals, the Doctors' Union, the Medical Association and the Hospital Authority.

Director of Health Dr Lam Ping-yan said the incident involving the transfer of a 34-year-old woman from the Adventist Hospital to Princess Margaret Hospital earlier this week showed the Government and the private medical sector were working closely in the prevention of SARS.

"However, the incident also shows that greater support to the private medical sector in laboratory tests for SARS would be beneficial," Dr Lam said.

He added that the department's Public Health Laboratory Centre has been providing support for SARS testing to private laboratories since the outbreak in March.

After hearing the views of the private medical sector, Dr Lam agreed that to facilitate early detection and reliable testing of SARS, the centre will provide public health laboratory consultation services for private hospitals and SARS tests for patients.

The meeting also reviewed communication channels between the Government and the private medical sector to further improve the effectiveness of the notification mechanism.

Dr Lam said the department is planning to create a SARS webpage under the department's homepage tailor-made for local private hospitals.