Frequently Asked Questions

Patients' Information	Issues on Medical Service	Issues on Daily Operation	Feedback on Hospital Service	Other Information
Application for medical report	Advancement of appointment in specialist clinic	Criteria for specialist clinic to arrange new appointments	Appreciation on hospital service	Buying medical products
Application for lost sick leave certificate	Treatment from Dermatology Clinic	Criteria for Accident & Emergency Department to decide patients' order of consultation	Enquiry or complaint	Medical service during public holidays
Application for copies of medical records & x-ray films	Procedure for physiotherapy treatment	Arrangement of specialist clinic during typhoon No. 8 and black rainstorm		Body check service
Collection of employees' medical information from hospital	Rebooking of appointment in specialist clinic	Confidentiality of patients' information during hospitalization		Voluntary service
				Hospital charges
				Information on medication

(1)	Q:	My leg was injured half a year ago and I have been attending regular follow up at Li Ka Shing Orthopaedics & Traumatology Clinic. As I have to take leave frequently to attend follow-up and receive occupational therapy, my boss gradually becomes unhappy. Recently he asked me to give him a report to specify my medical condition. Can you tell me how to get a medical report?
	A:	You should go to our Medical Records Office and apply for a medical report. Please click medical report for application details.
(2)	Q:	I have diabetes and always need to buy diabetic products, e.g. test papers, insulin syringes and needles etc. Are medical products available for sale in Prince of Wales Hospital?
	A:	There is a Rehab Shop in our hospital for patients to purchase medical products such as diabetes, geriatric, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, opthalmology & visual sciences, renal or respiratory products. There are also some general medical products such as nutritional supplements, walking-aids and adult diapers, dressing, incontinence care products and radiotherapy care products. etc. Please click Rehab Shop for more information.
(3)	Q:	My daughter has been suffering from fever recently. Sometimes when she feels sick on Sundays and long public holidays, I always don’t know where to take her for treatment. As her condition is not that urgent, I don’t want to abuse the Accident and Emergency service. Do you have any information about where to seek medical attention during public holidays?
	A:	You can call up 90000 222 322 (provides service during public holidays), the MediLink run by the Hong Kong Medical Association or the Hospital Authority Enquiry Hotline 2882 4866. There is information about where you can seek medical attention during long holidays.
(4)	Q:	I am an Orthopaedic patient in your hospital and I need to attend regular follow up. Recently I lost the sick leave certificate I had got from the doctor and I can't provide documentary proof to my boss. How can I get back the lost sick leave certificate from your hospital?
	A:	You can apply for a medical certificate from our Medical Records Office. Please click medical certificate for the application details.
(5)	Q:	I am moving to Singapore and the Singaporean consulate requested me to conduct a body check in a hospital of Hong Kong. Does your hospital provide body check service?
	A:	The Prince of Wales Hospital is an acute hospital and we do not provide body check service. You can consider looking for a private practitioner for a physical examination.
(6)	Q:	I am impressed by the attitude and performance of the medical and nursing staff of your hospital. I am going to send a thank you letter. Which department should I approach to send my appreciation on the hospital service?
	A:	Thank you for your appreciation. You can send your letter to our Patient Relations Office. We will then forward your appreciation to the department and staff concerned. Please click Patient Relations Office for related information.
(7)	Q:	My wife has been suffering from hypertension and requires to attend follow-up at the Li Ka Shing Medical Clinic every two months. Recently, she frequently feels dizzy although she has followed the doctor’s instruction to take the anti-hypertension drugs. I am worried about her condition. Her coming follow up in the Medical Clinic will be in one and a half months. How can I advance her follow up?
	A:	As scheduled appointments have to be made in the specialist clinic, patients cannot have immediate follow up consultation. You can first take your wife to a general practitioner for assessment. Depending on condition, the doctor there may issue a referral to your wife and suggest the hospital advancing her specialist appointment. In case your wife's condition is serious or urgent, you should take her to the Accident and Emergency Department at any time for further medical management. The doctor concerned will provide appropriate treatment according to patients’ clinical condition.
(8)	Q:	I have sensitive skin and my limbs always feel terribly itchy. How can I seek treatment from the Dermatology Clinic of your hospital?
	A:	Dermatology clinic only accepts referrals from clinics of the following departments: Family Medicine, Medicine and Therapeutics, Surgery, Obstetrics & Gynaecology , and Orthopaedics & Traumatology of the Prince of Wales Hospital. For other referrals, please refer to the following website for information on dermatology service provided by the Department of Health Social Hygiene/ Dermatology clinics. https://www.dh.gov.hk/english/tele/tele_chc/tele_chc_dc.html
(9)	Q:	A few days ago, I brought along a doctor’s referral to the Li Ka Shing Surgical Clinic to book a new appointment. Although my condition has been clearly stated in the referral, the staff at the counter could only arrange a first appointment in three months for me. What are the criteria for the Specialist Clinic to arrange new appointments?
	A:	When a patient submits a referral, the clinic counter staff will arrange an initial appointment according to the waiting list in the computerized system. In general, the doctors of the clinic have not screened the referrals while patients were making the appointments. The referrals will be screened later and the doctors will decide whether earlier appointments should be arranged according to the patients’ clinical condition. If such arrangement is required, our staff will inform those patients by phone or in writing.
(10)	Q:	I have some enquiries and complaints about the service of Prince of Wales Hospital. Who or which department should I contact?
	A:	Our Patient Relations Officers handle enquires and feedback from the patients or the public. Please click Patient Relations Office for related information.
(11)	Q:	My son needs to have regular follow-up at the Paediatric Department due to congenital disease. Now we are moving to Canada in three months. I hope to bring along all his medical records to Canada for the doctors there to follow up his case. How can I get the medical records? What is the cost and how long will it take? Can I also getthe x-ray film copies?
	A:	You should go to our Medical Records Office to apply for a duplicated set of the medical records and x-ray films. Please click copy of medical records for application details.
(12)	Q:	I always feel sore on my back due to work. My friend told me that physiotherapy could relief my pain. How can seek physiotherapy treatment from your hospital?
	A:	What you need to do is to get a referral issued by a registered doctor. Then you can come to our Physiotherapy Department (Location : G/F of Main Block) to book a new appointment. You can also make an appointment by phone (Tel: 2632 3237). The staff there will then arrange a date for you to receive an initial assessment by a physiotherapist. Please note that if the referral you presented is issued by a doctor of a government clinic or a public hospital, you will be required to pay the fee as a public patient for the subsequent treatments. Otherwise, you will be charged as a private patient.
(13)	Q:	Recently I took my son to your Accident and Emergency Department for treatment. Although he had a fever of 102°F, he needed to wait for more than an hour for treatment. There were other patients who registered later than him but were attended first. What are the criteria to decide the order of consultation in the Accident and Emergency Department?
	A:	Our Accident and Emergency Department adopts a triage system. The principle of this system is to decide the patients’ order of consultation according to their clinical condition. Upon registration, a nursing staff will initially assess the patient's general condition and vital signs, i.e. blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, pulse and breathing condition etc. Patients will be categorized into critical, emergent, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent based on their condition. Immediate medical management will be provided to patients under critical and emergent condition. The waiting time for the rest of the patients will be depending on the number of patients on that day.
(14)	Q:	I have an employee who needs to attend regular follow-up in the Medical Clinic of your hospital. The doctor always grants her about two weeks’ sick leave in every follow up. Although such a long period of sick leave is given, there is always no exact diagnosis written on her sick leave certificate. I think the doctor may have overestimated the severity of her illness. As an in-charge of a company, I do want to know her diagnosis because this help us make proper arrangement. Can a employer obtain his/her staff's medical information from a hospital?
	A:	Employers should ask their staff to apply for a medical report by themselves from our hospital for the company's reference. As we have to protect patients’ personal privacy, we cannot disclose any patient's medical information without their written consent. Please click medical report for application details.
(15)	Q:	Three years ago, I had regular follow-up at the LKS Surgical Clinic because I had a breast lump. As the doctor confirmed that the lump was benign, my case was closed and no follow-up was required. Recently however, I found the size of the lump has been getting bigger. This worries me very much. Can I rebook an appointment in the specialist clinic?
	A:	As your case has been closed for a long time, you need to present a new referral for booking an appointment. Since we are still keeping your medical records, the doctor will make reference to your medical history if necessary. Appropriate treatment will then be arranged according to your current condition.
(16)	Q:	I am very interested in voluntary service and I hope to work as a volunteer in your hospital. Which department should I contact?
	A:	The Health Support Centre of our hospital is eager to seek assistance from the public to perform voluntary service. Please click hospital volunteers service for details.
(17)	Q:	My Filipino maid was admitted to your hospital because of acute appendicitis. She has now been stabilized. I wanted to ask how much is the hospital charges. Is she entitled for the medical benefits of the Hong Kong government?
	A:	If your maid has a valid working visa which allows her to stay in Hong Kong for not less than six months, she is a entitled person for the medical benefits. Please produce the required documents on settling hospital bills. Please click payment procedure and service charge for information.
(18)	Q:	I should have attended an appointment at the Li Ka Shing Eye Clinic last week. However the Typhoon Signal No.8 was hoisted that day and the clinic was closed. What is the arrangement of the specialist clinic during Typhoon No.8 and black rainstorm warning?
	A:	When Typhoon Signal No. 8 or above or the black rainstorm warning is hoisted, service of our Specialist clinic will be suspended. Patients are required to rebook their appointments in a week after the typhoon or rainstorm signal is over. You can rearrange the appointment in person by bringing along your appointment slip to the respective clinic or by telephone according to the number shown on the slip.
(19)	Q:	My husband needs to have regular follow-up at the Cardiac Clinic due to intermittent angina pectoris. In the last follow-up, the doctor prescribed sublingual tablets to him and told him to put the tablet beneath his tongue if he suddenly feels chest pain or shortness of breath. What is sublingual tablet and what is the effect of it? How can I get more information about medication?
	A:	The sublingual tablet is in fact nitroglycerine which is effective for treating angina pectoris. You can call the Drug Enquiry Hotline of the Hospital Authority (Tel: 2515 1990) for further information about medication. There is information about the nature of the drug and its usage. Apart from the medication for angina pectoris, information about other medications such as anti-hypertension drugs, antiasthmatic preparations, antibiotics, anticoagulants etc is also available. You can also obtain information on the usage of some general medications, the usual dosages and instructions of medication.
(20)	Q:	I will soon be admitted to your hospital for a gynaecology operation. During hospitalization, I would like to rest more and not to be disturbed by visitors. Can the hospital keep my admission confidential?
	A:	To safeguard patients' privacy, we can keep patients’ admission confidential during hospitalization. If you have such request, you can seek assistance from the staff of our Admission Office during the admission procedure. You can also request the ward staff to do so after you have been admitted.