Arrangements for Civil Service Eligible Persons

The clinics were transferred from the Department of Health to the Hospital Authority (HA) by phases in July 2003.  Civil service eligible persons are entitled to free medical treatment at the general out-patient clinics (GOPCs), subject to the availability of quota, verification of eligibility through the Medical and Dental Benefits Eligibility Checking System or presentation of a valid G.F. 181 (revised 2008) (for civil servants and their eligible dependants) or Try. 447 (revised 2008) (for pensioners and their eligible dependants), and production of valid proof of identity by civil service eligible persons.  Discs are issued at general out-patient clinics to indicate the order and time of consultation.

A number of priority discs are reserved for civil servants during normal day sessions, at the beginning of the morning and / or the afternoon session at most of the GOPCs.  The main purpose of giving civil servants priority treatment is to enable them to return to work, if considered fit, as early as possible in order to maintain normal workforce.  Hence, no priority discs will be given to pensioners, or eligible dependants of civil servants or pensioners, or in clinic sessions in the evening, Sundays and public holidays.  HA has standardised the specified period for issuing priority discs to civil servants.  For the morning session, the priority discs will be issued from 9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. while for the afternoon session, from 2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.  Any unused priority discs after 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively will be released to members of the public.  This notwithstanding, civil servants who turn up at the GOPCs after 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. respectively will be attended to provided that the stipulated priority discs quota for civil servants has not been exceeded.  Civil servants can check with the registration counter or telephone the general enquiry number of GOPCs to check whether the relevant priority discs are still available.

Advance booking of priority discs by telephone is also available for civil servants at selected clinics.  This can be made only for the day on which appointments are made and does not apply to clinic sessions which operate outside normal working hours, i.e. in the evenings, on Sundays and on public holidays.

The number of priority discs varies amongst clinics.  It may also vary on different days depending on the actual circumstances of the days.  As a general reference to give civil servants a rough indication on the utilisation of priority discs in GOPCs, they may refer to the table.  In case civil servants need to obtain priority discs, they may consider attending those GOPCs with lower utilisation.  The table will be updated at regular intervals.  As the utilisation of priority discs in GOPC may vary each day, civil servants should take this into consideration when making reference to the table. 

If all priority discs are given out, civil servants may make telephone booking for a public disc in the same manner as members of the public and receive free treatment.

In the case of emergency, civil service eligible persons, like the public, may approach the nursing officer.  The nursing officer may arrange for earlier medical attention according to the medical condition of the patient.  The office of the nursing officer is shown in a notice displayed in the waiting hall of the clinic.  The shroff is not in a position to exercise discretion on accepting patients when discs are all allocated.

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