Secretary for Health and member of Standing Committee of CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee and Party Leadership Group of Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government jointly witness accreditation of Prince of Wales Hospital under China’s International Hospital Accreditation Standards (2021 Version) and signing of Memorandum of Understanding of co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen on international accreditation of hospitals (with photos)
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The Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, along with member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee and the Party Leadership Group of the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government Mr Chen Qing and his delegation, attended the “China’s International Hospital Accreditation Award Presentation Ceremony for the Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH)” today (March 12) to witness the hospital becoming the second hospital in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) accredited under the China’s International Hospital Accreditation Standards (2021 Version) (the Standards).
In delivering his speech, Professor Lo said, “Following the accreditation of Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital (PYNEH) under the Standards as the first such hospital in the HKSAR in December last year, the successful accreditation of PWH under the Standards today once again demonstrates that the management, services and medical quality of Hong Kong’s public hospitals are on par with international standards. At the same time, accreditation under the Standards can promote not only continuous improvements at various hospitals, but also uniformity of the healthcare quality in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), hence providing residents of the GBA with international and homogenous healthcare services. It further signifies that this set of hospital accreditation standards, which is formulated by our country and is in line with the international standards, has accelerated its development outside the Mainland, and is steadily going global.”
Professor Lo then had a meeting with Mr Chen to exchange views on medical and healthcare co-operation between Hong Kong and Shenzhen, and to explore ways to further promote the development of the accreditation under the Standards. After the meeting, Professor Lo and Mr Chen were joined by the Chairman of the Hospital Authority (HA), Mr Henry Fan, and the Director General of the Public Hygiene and Health Commission of Shenzhen Municipality, Ms Wu Hongyan, who were also present at the meeting, to witness the signing of the “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation of Promoting International Accreditation for Hong Kong Public Hospitals in 2025” (MOU) by the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko, and the President of the Shenzhen Hospital Accreditation Research Center (Center), Mr Xu Xiaoping.
Professor Lo said, “The signing of the MOU between the HA and the Center today signifies the implementation of another co-operation initiative between Hong Kong and Shenzhen for the promotion of healthcare integration and innovation in the GBA. It also demonstrates that the HKSAR, as the ‘super connector’ and ‘super value-adder’, harnesses the institutional strengths of the ‘one country, two systems’ to fully leverage its influence and professional advantages in the internationalisation of medical and healthcare areas, facilitating the national standards to go global, while building a ‘Healthy Hong Kong’ for integration into a ‘Healthy Bay Area’ and making contributions to a ‘Healthy China’.”
As the first set of internationally accredited hospital accreditation standards developed by the country, the Standards were jointly developed by hospital accreditation experts from Hong Kong and the Mainland based on the national Tier III Class A hospital accreditation standards and in accordance with the requirements of the International Society for Quality in Health Care, while drawing reference from international experience. In line with the policy initiative of hospital accreditation set out in the Chief Executive’s Policy Addresses of 2022 and 2023, the HA has resumed the Hospital Accreditation Programme by adopting the Standards at PYNEH and PWH in 2023-24. The HA has also planned to roll out the Hospital Accreditation Programme at three other public hospitals this year.
The Center, which developed the Standards, set up its office in Hong Kong last year to accelerate the accreditation programme under the Standards in the HKSAR, highlighting the important role of the HKSAR as a gateway to demonstrate and promote the Standards to the international community, thereby promoting the going global of national hospital accreditation standards.