Hong Kong - A Hong Kong public hospital Monday admitted it had blundered by refusing to send medics to help a dying patient on its doorstep. The Caritas Medical Centre's actions sparked public outrage a fortnight ago when a receptionist told a dying man's son to phone for an ambulance when the son said his father lay dying at the hospital's doorstep.
She refused to dial the number for him or alert the hospital's emergency department, saying the correct procedure was for the man to call the 999 emergency services number himself.
The man's 56-year-old father, who has not been named, died 45 minutes later after a delay of more than 20 minutes in getting him from the hospital doorstep to the emergency unit.
In a report into the incident released Monday, the hospital admitted "inadequacies" and promised to improve its response to urgent requests in future.
The report conceded that the response of both the receptionist and the emergency unit fell short of public expectations and said it would provide better First Aid training to all staff.
The case has been seen by some observers as an example of the overly-bureaucratic attitude of many Hong Kong health workers, who they say lack common sense and the ability to react to real-life situations.
Legislator Albert Chan, who has been helping victim's son, said legal action would be taken against the hospital by the dead man's family.
