Can't get confirmed hospital booking

[geiboyi]

You know - Queen Mary is not a bad hospital. It's actually considered to be probably the best, in terms of neonatal facilities, in Asia. Of course you won't get a private room with a balcony, but really, it's just having a baby, and it doesn't take long. I've done it twice and am none the worse for it.

 

[barbwong_130]

The Mainland mothers coming to give birth here is causing problems for the expensive hospitals but not because they are using them. There is the knock on effect happening. The Mainlanders are using the public and cheaper private hospitals. Thus the mothers who would use these hospitals are moving up market and using the middle range private hospitals. And again the mothers who would use the middle range are moving into the expensive hospitals, i.e. the Adventist and the Matilda. There is no where else for the mothers who normal use these expensive hospital to go, thus the unprecedented difficulty in booking a bed.

 

[KatBoo]

...but I thought that the numbers of mainlanders coming to HK had dropped hugely with the new regulations (according to the SCMP anyway)? This is why I don't understand why there is still a problem. You'd have thought everyone would have shuffled back down again now that the new booking system and costs are in place for the mainlanders.

 

[annahk]

I don't think it's really Mainlanders that are to blame. Both my doctor and the hospital have said that the boom is due to huge numbers of people wanting Year of The Pig babies. Not sure how much luck that these babies are going to have if they are all going to be compteing for the same school places, jobs etc. in years to come!

 

[sky123]

Yes it seems to happens alot when its the year of the pig, dragon or monkey.

 

[kellyst]

as i was speculating on another other thread, i think that the costs that have been put in place for mainlanders for public hospitals has DIRECTLY just PUSHED them to use private hospitals instead. there is essentially NO DIFFERENCE for them in cost, why not go private if you're paying the same. my theory anyways... i've always want to write to a paper or something to get this verified, it's so annoying to see bad policy like this.

 

[mosmom]

It's absolutely ridiculous that you can't be guaranteed your (private) hospital choice within the current system. I can only wish you good luck in your birthing experience in HK, and that you have a really great memory of it all. Keeping my fingers crossed for you!

 

[geiboyi]

But this is the whole point of the policy - to get people who can afford to pay $$$ to give birth into the private system, thereby reduing the strain on the goverment hospitals. Everyone entitled to enter HK is also entitled to get whatever medical care they wish here, as long as they pay the correct fees. The reason for setting the govt hosp fees so high is exactly for this reason - if you're paying so much anyway, you might as well go private. The policy is to help normal HK residents who have no choice but to use govt hospitals, not to make things easier for relatively well-off people who want to pick and choose hospitals. This is no secret - it's been reported in papers, directly from the people who implemented the policy.

 

[KatBoo]

I'm not suggesting it should be easier for those who use the private hospitals, but it seems ridiculous to implement a policy without giving any thought to how it will effect the entire system - both public and private.

As far as I was to believe (from what I have read in the press), the policy changes were put in place to stop so many mainlanders turning up in labour and resulting in a shortage of beds for residents... but the issue is also about residency and unpaid fees, not just about shortage of beds. Like I said in my previous post, if the policy changes have been successful...as they have been, according to the press, the problem of bed shortages should have been resolved resulting in less squeeze in both public and private systems. But this is clearly not the case.

 

[aussiegal]

Geiboyi, what of people like me who are residents and willing to pay the fees for private but can't get a room? Doesn't seem fair to me that someone living here doesn't get priority over room allocations if payment is not an issue. I'm not asking a local who can't afford a private hospital birth to give up their room in a gov hospital. I'm asking why I can't get a room in a private when non-resident mainlanders can. The policy doesn't work because everyone needs to be protected not just those using gov hospitals.