Hong Kong Children’s Hospital suspends ENT department, affecting 500 patients

Hong Kong Children’s Hospital has temporarily suspended services at its ear, nose and throat department due to a manpower crunch, with more than 500 patients referred to other public healthcare facilities.

Hospital Authority chief executive Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing apologised on Friday for the service disruption, saying it aimed to resume normal operation in the second half of this year.

“We are very sorry that the short-term manpower loss has affected the children’s otolaryngology service this time,” Ko said. “We have initially seen that our manpower is slightly stable, and we will gradually hire more colleagues. Therefore, we expect that we should be able to gradually resume otolaryngology services at the Children’s Hospital as soon as possible in the second half of the year.”

The authority said earlier in the day the department’s services had been provided by a team comprising an associate consultant, a resident and a part-time consultant, but only one member was currently still working.

“One is sick and another has resigned,” an authority spokesman said, adding ear, nose and throat services at the hospital in Kai Tak had been affected since November.

More than 500 patients, including those who were under other specialists, had been referred to services provided by other public hospitals with bookings arranged, the spokesman said.