The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson announced that non-emergency services of public hospitals will be suspended from tomorrow (September 23) afternoon including services of general out-patient clinics, specialist out-patient clinics, allied health (such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, etc.), geriatric day hospitals and psychiatric day hospitals, ambulatory services, non-emergent laboratory tests (such as blood tests and returning of specimens) and diagnostic services.

The HA spokesperson said, "Non-urgent patients should avoid visiting public hospitals or clinics during storm or adverse weather conditions for the sake of safety. Public hospitals will resume all affected non-emergency services as soon as possible after Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 is cancelled. Affected patients will be notified gradually in the coming week to reschedule their appointments. Patients do not need to be concerned. All clusters have also set up hotlines for patients' enquiries (see attached table)."

During the period when Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal No. 8 or above is in force, all acute services at public hospitals, including services of accident and emergency departments, inpatient services, and emergency surgeries, will remain as normal.

The HA Major Incident Control Centre will closely monitor the operations of all hospitals and maintain close communication with relevant government departments to ensure public hospital services remain unaffected during adverse weather conditions.