Title : A review of the role of occupational health services in Hong Kong hospitals: An historical perspective and COVID-19 experience
Abstract:
Background: This paper reviews the growth of the Occupational Health Service (OHS) in Hong Kong (HK) from the 1960s to 2022 with the aim of recommending practicable strategies for improvement. The review informs stakeholders how different factors triggered change and how they led to a sustainable and practicable service.
Method: The findings from a review of HK Special Administrative Government reports, historical papers and newspapers were compared to the results from a related (2017) study by the author, using a Sequential Mixed Method data collection.
Results: In 2017, the author’s study reported that: OHS practice in the sampled HK hospitals complied with local legislation, and internationally recognized standards of OHS practice were implemented as required; but OHS consumers said that employer and senior staff attitudes were impediments to receiving a more practicable and appropriate service. Between 2019 and 2022 the COVID-19 pandemic saw the HK healthcare system overwhelmed by staff burnout, infection and even death. Lessons from the 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome epidemic in HK, should have lead to more effective OHS measures leading up to 2019.
Conclusion: OHS policy makers and providers need to be better informed and supported in their complex role in affecting workplace culture where stakeholders have very different views. The key decision-makers should re-focus away from processes, towards the practicable needs of the frontline staff, with positive consequences for the consumers. Consumer ownership of the provided services is key to their effectiveness if the OHS’s mission is truly to deliver what the consumers need.
