To enable Hong Kong citizens to develop, live and reside in the Mainland, the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) launched the Pilot Scheme for Supporting Patients of the Hospital Authority in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Pilot Scheme) on 10 May 2023, making reference to the experience from the Special Support Scheme during the COVID-19 epidemic, so that patients with scheduled follow-up appointments at designated Specialist Outpatient Clinics (SOPCs) or General Outpatient Clinics (GOPCs) of the Hospital Authority (HA) can receive subsidised consultations at the University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH). Having considered the effectiveness of the Pilot Scheme in addressing the patients' need for frequent follow-up consultations, the HKSAR Government decided to extend the Pilot Scheme for one year so that eligible patients can continue to receive subsidised consultation services at the HKU-SZH from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 with a view to providing greater convenience to Hong Kong citizens residing in or frequently travelling to and from Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities.

Participating eligible patients will be required to pay a fee of RMB100 for each subsidised consultation received at the HKU-SZH while the remaining fee will be subsidised by the Pilot Scheme. Every participating patient is subject to a subsidy cap of RMB2,000. The relevant subsidy will be valid until 31 March 2025. Fees beyond the subsidy cap should be paid by the patients to HKU-SZH directly. The scope of services under the Pilot Scheme covers major SOPC and GOPC services provided by the HA, namely, anaesthesiology (pain clinic only); cardiothoracic surgery; clinical oncology; ear, nose and throat; eye; gynaecology; internal medicine; neurosurgery; obstetrics; orthopaedics and traumatology; paediatrics, and surgery. Episodic illnesses, inpatient or day inpatient, as well as Accident and Emergency Department services are not included.

For an existing patient of the Pilot Scheme who wishes to continue participating in the Pilot Scheme, he/she should raise the request to HKU-SZH and complete the ‘Pilot Scheme for Supporting Patients of the Hospital Authority in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area - Participant Declaration and Confirmation Reply’ to complete necessary procedures. For those existing patients with personal information updated, they need to submit new application to HKU-SZH.

For an eligible patient who had never participated in the Pilot Scheme but wishes to join the Pilot Scheme, he/she should read the Participant Information Notice, and submit the application to HKU-SZH with completed application form, together with the supporting documents and follow-up appointment slip from HA’s designated SOPC or GOPC (if available). Apart from applying in-person, patients may also scan the QR code of WeChat (for use in Mainland) to submit their application via WeChat App. For details, please refer to HKU-SZH website.

To ensure patients receiving optimal treatment and more effective utilisation of resources, the Pilot Scheme will implement the following measures:

1. Patients participating in the Pilot Scheme have to agree that if they have received subsidised out-patient clinic services of the Pilot Scheme at the relevant departments of the University of the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH), they would not attend follow-up consultations at the corresponding Specialist Out-patient Clinics or General Out-patient Clinics of the Hospital Authority (HA) in parallel throughout the period of the Pilot Scheme. (This does not apply to patients who return to the HA for follow-up consultations due to their subsidy of RMB2,000 have been exhausted.) If patients are found to have violated the relevant terms, their subsidy accounts under the Pilot Scheme will be frozen until 31 March 2025.

2. Once the patient participated in the Pilot Scheme and after first out-patient services consultation at HKU-SZH, the patient’s follow-up appointments in HA for the corresponding out-patient services would be cancelled.

3. Upon patient’s request for withdrawal from the Pilot Scheme or subject to clinical needs, HKU-SZH would refer the patient back to the corresponding out-patient clinics of the HA for arranging follow-up appointment.

For enquiries, members of the public may call the HA (Tel: (+852) 2300 7070; Service hours: 9am - 6pm on Mondays to Fridays, except public holidays) or the HKU-SZH (Tel: (+86) 0755-86913101); Service hours: 8am - 12.30pm and 2pm - 5.30pm on Mondays to Fridays, except public holidays).

Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202403/07/P2024030700240.htm

https://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/202305/09/P2023050900424.htm

Annex:

Participant Information Notice_Pilot Scheme.pdf

Participant Declaration and Confirmation Reply.pdf

Information Sheet_Pilot Scheme.pdf

Electronic Health Record Sharing System Participant Information Notice.pdf

Pilot Scheme Phase Two_Handling of dispute case .pdf

FAQs_Pilot Scheme (v4_20241018)_Eng (final) clean.pdf