The Government would step up its efforts in building a more comprehensive healthcare system that would meet the people’s increasing needs, a system that would match international standards.

This was disclosed by the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Mr Tam Chon Weng, after a visit to the Conde S. Januário public hospital where he also attended an internal meeting and exchanged views with staff on 5 January.

Mr Tam, whose portfolio includes the healthcare system, said the Government would take effective measures to shorten patients’ waiting time, upgrade the hospital’s facilities and provide more training to specialists.

In a few months the Health Bureau would launch a mobile application to give the people better grasps of the waiting list for services in both public and private hospitals, to shorten their time spent waiting for medical services.

Mr Tam said the Government acknowledged the problems staff faced, including the shortage of manpower and lack of training and promotion opportunities. He pledged to enhance the mechanisms to offer more professional on-the-job training and promotion, and would recruit more professionals to cope with the growing demands on the service.

A system will also be introduced to monitor usage of resources in the hospital.

Mr Tam’s visit also included the emergency ward, pharmacy, specialist departments and resource centre for cancer patients. He also attended a presentation on the hospital’s operation, triage system and facilities.

Later in the day, Mr Tam attended a plenary meeting of the Council for Medical Affairs to collect views and suggestions to help better prepare for the Chief Executive’s Policy Address in March.