Vivian Chu is a paediatrician in the UK who also worked in Hong Kong. She is mother to a 3-year-old and a 10-month old baby. She lives in St John’s Wood, London with her family and has been here since 2002. 

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What is the biggest difference between the healthcare in Hong Kong and the UK? ⦁ 香港同英國醫療制度最大嘅分別

Many say UK doctors are laid back, but this misconception is due to UK having a good health education. Many Brits have a good understanding of common illnesses, and many know with a cold and flu, for example, you get better on your own so they don’t go to a GP (general practitioner) for that. Hong Kong doctors only see you for 5 minutes, then offer you X-rays or anti-biotics etc to make you feel you’re looked after. Here, I sometimes spend an hour with a patient to educate them on their health issue.  

Also, the culture is different. Hong Kongers tend to hop between doctors, but in the UK a GP is a family doctor, and is with you over the years so there is a lot of trust. 

My English is not good, will I have issues seeing a doctor? ⦁ 我英文唔夠好，睇醫生會唔會有問題

Do not worry at all, because you can get an interpreter. If you are seeing a GP, you can request real time interpretation through a telephone line. The service is provided by LanguageLine and free. 

If you are scheduled to have an operation in the UK, ask the GP to state in the referral letter that you would require an interpreter on the day. 

This is why I strongly suggest those who don’t speak good English to live in an area with an existing Chinese population or at least has a good mix of races. The GPs will then be more used to handling patients with poor English. 

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If my kid is unwell, what should I do? ⦁ 小朋友唔舒服我可以點做

Firstly, in an emergency you can always go straight to the nearest A&E (accident and emergency department). But be prepared that you will have to wait a long time to be attended to. This is an option for those who speak poor English, by the way.

Alternatively, call 111 but you will be expected to explain the situation clearly in English. They may advise you to go to the A&E straight away. If not urgent, they will call an out-of-hour GP for you to assess the situation. They may then arrange for you to go to an Urgent Care Centre (UCC) where you will be seen by a GP, or may call an ambulance for you to go to the A&E. 

Do you recommend Hong Kongers getting health insurance? ⦁ 香港人需唔需要買醫療保險

I see this as unnecessary. It is not in high demand among locals therefore is very expensive, and there is little that they can offer that the NHS (National Health Service) does not. The biggest advantage of private healthcare is you may get referral to a specialist faster. But how many times can you benefit from it? If you do need to speed up a certain process relating to healthcare, I suggest that you pay for a one-off private consultation which will be a few hundred pounds. 

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