Editorial | Fix booking system for dentist visits in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s public healthcare system ranks favourably in the world, thanks to its professional and heavily subsidised services.

However, the waiting time for non-urgent medical attention can be exceedingly long. The situation is further compounded by the city’s rapidly ageing population.

The shortage of dental services is even more acute, as shown in a report by the Audit Commission. The appointment quota of 11 government clinics has almost halved from 40,322 in 2018-19 to 20,337 in 2022-23.

But the demand rose over the same period, going from filling 92.3 per cent of all available quota spots to 99.2 per cent. The Department of Health attributed the decrease in services to the Covid-19 pandemic and a personnel shortage.

On-site observation by government auditors found that patients often had to line up for hours in person for a limited number of spaces that are up for grabs from 12am each day. Some were seen queuing at about 10pm at three clinics, meaning overnight waiting for consultations might well be the norm.

The shortage of dentists is nothing new. But the problem has been aggravated by a severe brain drain in the medical sector in recent years.