The Hospital Authority will adjust its non-emergency services at acute hospitals to handle any casualties that may arise during the WTO 6th Ministerial Conference, Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food Dr York Chow told lawmakers today.

The plan is to ensure public hospitals can make available hospital beds and operation theatres at short notice.

Non-acute hospitals will also make preparations for additional hospital beds to receive patients from acute hospitals, if and when necessary.

A number of General Outpatient Clinics have been designated to support acute hospitals, by providing treatment to patients with minor injuries in the event of a serious incident.

The authority will maintain a high level of alertness between December 10 and 20 and will activate its Major Incident Control Centre to co-ordinate the collection and dissemination of information.

Q&A cards

To cater to the needs of patients who do not speak English or Chinese, it has prepared a set of questions and answers on cue cards in 12 languages to facilitate communication between healthcare workers and patients. The authority also has a pool of interpreters.

It will also maintain close liaison with the Police, Fire Services Department, and the Department of Health to ensure prompt deployment of medical manpower and other resources.

The authority has approached private hospitals and advised them to consider promulgating a contingency plan for MC6 and beef up their services during the conference.

Information on Hong Kong's private hospitals has been incorporated into the information manual prepared for conference delegates, encouraging them to use private hospitals for non-emergency medical needs.