In response to the impact of the novel coronavirus epidemic, the Hospital Authority has further reduced non-urgent and non-essential services. The relevant arrangements are in line with the government's epidemic prevention strategy. When the number of infection cases in various districts is increasing, the flow of people in various districts, including hospitals, will be reduced as much as possible to avoid cross-infection. As for most scheduled treatments and examinations, including routineendoscopy, colonoscopy, cardiac examination, etc., they need to be postponed, and patients will be contacted in stages to make arrangements.
In fact, as early as 2016, the demand for colonoscopies in public hospitals has been increasing day by day, and the waiting time for non-urgent cases is even measured in years. Public hospitals can handle 50,000 colonoscopies every year, but the annual examination demand exceeds 50,000. As of October 2016, the average waiting time for non-urgent cases was about 1.2 years.
In 2019, the Hospital Authority also began to have a manpower shortage problem. The situation in public hospitals was particularly serious. The large amount of work required medical staff to publicly complain, but the Hospital Authority has not yet alleviated the manpower problem. According to documents from the Hospital Authority, the attrition rate of full-time doctors in 2018/19 (as of December 2018) reached 6%, an 11-year high. The attrition rates of nurses and allied health professionals also reached 6.1% and 5.4% respectively, hitting an eight-year high.
Faced with the shortage of staff in public hospitals, and the epidemic that has indefinitely delayed non-emergency services, if you already have symptoms (blood in your stool, and are in urgent need of a colonoscopy), you may also consider going to a dayendoscopy center for examination. Since January 1 this year, the Department of Health has fully implemented the colorectal cancer screening program, and its coverage has been further extended to Hong Kong residents aged 50 to 75, that is, people born between 1944 and 1970, who can receive government colorectal cancer prevention subsidies. Get screened.防患大腸癌資助接受篩查。
To identify polyps as early as possible toavoidcolorectal cancer, regular colonoscopies are recommended.
The above information is for reference only. Consult your doctor if you have any doubt.
