Kidney patients are enjoying shorter journeys and less waiting time for dialysis, thanks to new centres set up outside public hospitals.
Patients are waiting as little as 20 minutes for treatment at five facilities across Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories in a relaxing environment complete with TV.
The public-private partnership programme was launched by the Hospital Authority in March with government backing of HK$36 million. It aims to treat 100 end-stage kidney failure patients in three years.
It is designed to take pressure off public hospital dialysis units, which by March this year were treating 7,000 patients.
Authority chief manager Margaret Tay said: 'Besides the increasing number of patients, they tend to wait a long time for clinical therapy in public hospitals.'
The authority runs the centres in partnership with two private hospitals and three non-governmental organisations. Patients pay the same as they would at public hospitals while welfare recipients can apply for free treatment.
