Accident and emergency department waiting times improve after fee reforms: HA

More than 264,000 medical fee-waiver applications were approved in the first half of 2026.

Public healthcare fee reforms have improved accident and emergency (A&E) department performance whilst expanding financial protection for patients, according to the Hospital Authority (HA).

The 18 A&E departments managed by the authority recorded 913,248 attendances in the first half of 2026, down 3.9% from the same period last year.

Critical and emergency cases accounted for 44,522 attendances. These patients were fully exempted from A&E fees under the revised charging mechanism.

The proportion of urgent patients treated within the service target of 30 minutes increased from 81.4% to 88.5%. Their average waiting time declined from 23 to 20 minutes.

Attendances involving semi-urgent and non-urgent cases fell by about 10%, with non-urgent cases declining approximately 20%.

The HA said these figures indicated that the reforms had reduced unnecessary A&E use whilst protecting access for patients requiring urgent care.

Financial assistance also increased following the changes. The authority received 289,799 medical fee-waiver applications as of 30 June and approved 264,087, representing an approval rate of more than 90%.

The number of approvals was nearly 19 times the approximately 14,000 patients who received fee waivers during the full year before the reforms.

An annual cap of $10,000 was also introduced on eligible patient spending. The 10,595 patients approved under the scheme will have further eligible medical fees waived for the remainder of the financial year.

The reforms also expanded support for innovative drugs and medical devices. The HA added 16 drugs to its formulary during the first six months, including seven targeted cancer treatments.

Six of the medicines were included in the Special Drugs category. Eligible patients receiving these drugs under specified clinical conditions pay a standard fee of $20 every four weeks.

Financial assessment criteria for Samaritan Fund assistance were also relaxed to extend support to more critically ill patients, including those from middle-income households.

Compared with the first half of 2025, approved Samaritan Fund subsidies for drugs rose 22% to $1.28b. Subsidies for non-drug items, including medical devices, increased 10% to $220m.

The HA said the initial data showed the reforms were operating as intended and would inform the next phase of implementation.