Chief Executive in Council approves railway scheme of Northern Link Main Line
The Chief Executive in Council today (April 8) authorised the railway scheme of the Northern Link (NOL) Main Line in accordance with the Railways Ordinance (Cap. 519).
Taking into account the pace of developments along the NOL, the NOL project is implemented in two phases. Phase 1 involves the construction of the Kwu Tung (KTU) Station above the tunnel structure of the existing Lok Ma Chau Spur Line of the East Rail Line (EAL). The construction works of the KTU Station project commenced in September 2023 with target completion in 2027 to tie in with the intake of major new population of Kwu Tung North New Development Area. Phase 2 is the NOL Main Line, which involves the construction of a 10.7-kilometre railway connecting the existing Kam Sheung Road (KSR) Station of the Tuen Ma Line (TML) and the KTU Station, with three intermediate stations at Au Tau, Ngau Tam Mei and San Tin. The detailed planning and design of the NOL Main Line have been substantially completed, and the advance works have also commenced. The target is to complete the works of the Main Line by 2034.
A Government spokesperson said, "The NOL Main Line will become the main transportation backbone of the Northern Metropolis, unleashing the development potential of land along the railway. It will also connect the existing TML and the EAL, forming a railway loop linking up the New Territories and the Kowloon urban area, substantially improving the connections of the existing railway network. When the NOL Main Line comes into operation, the expected travel time between KSR Station and KTU Station is expected to be substantially reduced from the current 60 to 80 minutes during peak hours to about 12 minutes."
"The Government and the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL) have collected public views on the NOL Main Line project through various channels earlier, including consulting the North District Council and the Yuen Long District Council, exchanging views with relevant rural committees and stakeholders and organising various publicity activities in the community. The public is generally supportive of the NOL Main Line project," the spokesman added.
The original scheme of the NOL Main Line was gazetted on October 6, 2023, with two subsequent amendments. The first amendment and correction to the scheme was gazetted on May 3, 2024, and the second amendment to the scheme was gazetted on August 30, 2024. In respect of the objections received, the Government together with the MTRCL has carefully studied the grounds of each opinion, and met with the objectors to explain the railway scheme and respond to their concerns. All of the unwithdrawn objections have been submitted to the Executive Council for consideration.
"During the implementation of the NOL Main Line project, the MTRCL will continue to maintain close communication with relevant stakeholders. Furthermore, the MTRCL is also required to comply with the conditions set out in the environmental permit issued by the Director of Environmental Protection to mitigate the environmental impacts of the works," the spokesman said.
DH responds to media enquiries on air-conditioning interruption in private hospital
In response to media enquiries regarding the air-conditioning interruption that occurred at St. Teresa's Hospital in July 2024 for about an hour, the Department of Health (DH) today (May 14) gave the following response:
Regulatory regime
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The DH regulates licensed private hospitals in accordance with the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance (Cap. 633) (the Ordinance). The Code of Practice for Private Hospitals (the CoP) issued by the Director of Health in accordance with the Ordinance sets forth licensing and operating standards for private hospitals, including the relevant requirements for hospital facilities and equipment.
The CoP stipulates that hospital installations and equipment must be kept in good operational order and requires hospitals to have contingency plans for emergencies (such as fire and the cessation of water or electricity supply). It also sets out that healthcare engineering systems (including electrical installations, specialised ventilation systems and medical gas supplies) must be properly maintained to meet the service need and ensure patient safety. Reportable events for private hospitals are also set out in the CoP.
The DH regularly reviews and updates regulatory standards for private healthcare facilities, together with the experts of the Advisory Committee for Regulatory Standards for Private Healthcare Facilities in accordance with the established mechanism of the Advisory Committee. The DH will also continue to review the CoP in accordance with the mechanism in order to protect the interest of the public.
Investigation work
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Regarding the incident at St. Teresa's Hospital, the DH was notified by a doctor on September 2, 2024, about an air-conditioning interruption in the operating theatres on the second floor of the hospital concerned in the evening of July 31, 2024, which lasted approximately one hour.
Although air-conditioning interruption is not a reportable event of private hospitals, the DH considered that the incident might have potential patient safety concerns and therefore promptly initiated an investigation on the same day (September 2, 2024) the notification was received. The DH sent staff to conduct an inspection at the hospital concerned, checked relevant documents, evaluated the effectiveness of its contingency measures, assessed the environmental condition of the operating theatres during the interruption and followed up on the remedial actions.
According to the investigation, the incident involved a malfunction of the air-conditioning system used to regulate the room temperature which lasted for about one hour. During which, 10 surgeries were performed in various operating theatres. The hospital explained that dehumidifiers were immediately deployed in the operating theatres where higher risk surgeries were being performed, including the one where the doctor was performing an operation. According to the hospital and the nurses on site, the severity of condensation in the operating theatre did not result in water dripping onto the surgical site of patients. The ventilation system used for infection control in the operating theatres (including air filtration equipment, hourly air change rate and a positive pressure environment) was operating normally. Apart from immediately responding to the incident, the hospital has also worked with its contractor to identify the cause of the incident and take measures to prevent recurrence of similar incidents.
In addition, the hospital conducted prompt follow-up by conducting air sampling of the operating theatres and surveillance on conditions of patients who underwent surgeries during the affected period for infection, with no abnormality detected. Based on the available evidence gathered, the DH considered that there was insufficient evidence to show that the hospital has breached the requirements of the Ordinance or the CoP.
Complaint handling
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The Ordinance also provides for a complaints handling mechanism against private healthcare facilities, which includes the establishment of the statutory Committee on Complaints Against Private Healthcare Facilities (Complaints Committee), with the DH serving as the Secretariat, to handle complaints lodged by patients against licensed private healthcare facilities (including private hospitals).
There were media enquiries on whether the DH had received any complaints from patients. According to the DH's existing records, the DH received a call on September 12, 2024, from a member of the public who enquired about the complaint procedure against private healthcare facilities, and mentioned the air-conditioning system of St. Teresa's Hospital was not functioning properly when underwent surgeries. The Secretariat explained to the enquirer the function of the Complaints Committee and statutory procedures of lodging a complaint promptly. The Secretariat on the following day (September 13, 2024) sent information on the complaint procedures with complaint form and statutory declaration form to the email address provided by the person as requested. The enquirer confirmed receipt of the concerned information and forms by email but since then, the Complaints Committee has not received any complaint from the concerned enquirer in relation to this incident.
The DH has completed investigation based on all available information, but will continue to closely monitor licensed private healthcare facilities. If there is new and concrete evidence, the DH will take appropriate actions as necessary to safeguard patient safety.
