ueen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) gained some excellent results when it took part in the Asia Pacific Business Excellence Standard (APBEST) Awards for the first time last year. Not only was it named as the APBEST Grand Award Winner of the Year and BEST Hospital in Asia-Pacific, its Hospital Chief Executive, Dr Hung Chi-tim; Chief of Service (A&E), Dr Ho Hiu-fai; and Chief of Service (A&OTS), Dr Chow Yu-fat, received the titles of APBEST Strategist of the Year, APBEST Operations Driver of the Year, and APBEST Customer Services Driver of the Year, respectively. These achievements speak highly of the synergy and dedicated endeavours of all our QEH colleagues in providing quality healthcare services to the community.

Seven departments at QEH participated in the APBEST Awards: Accident & Emergency, Anaesthesia & OT Services, Pathology, Surgery, Central Nursing, Administrative Service, and Human Resources. Each of them was well prepared and had adequate information ready for the APBEST Examiners' visit on 13 August 2010.

Dr Hung expressed his special thanks to his staff. "We have more than 5,000 colleagues who strive to serve the community. I feel grateful to have the opportunity to work with them. Besides giving us a valuable self-assessment opportunity, the awards also recognise our standards and quality of service. I would like to thank all my colleagues for their dedicated efforts," he said.

2010 was a special year for QEH. Following its accreditation assessment by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards in July, the hospital won several prestigious awards. Once again thanking his colleagues for all their contributions, Dr Hung noted that "The successful completion of two external assessments is not only true recognition of our colleagues' professional standards, it also adds impetus to our drive for continuous improvement and self-development."