Attention duty announcers, radio and TV stations: 

Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at suitable intervals: 

     The Marine Department today (January 31) reminded masters, coxswains and persons-in-charge of vessels navigating in Hong Kong waters to proceed at a safe speed and exercise extreme caution because restricted visibility of less than 2 nautical miles has been reported. 

     Appropriate sound signals shall be made when underway or at anchor. All vessels must comply with the International Regulations for Preventing Collision at Sea. 

     Also, when radar is used without the benefit of adequate plotting facilities, the information obtained from the equipment is rather limited and should be construed accordingly. 

     Visibility reports are broadcast by the Vessel Traffic Centre (VTC) on VHF channels 02, 12, 14, 63 and 67. 

     In the event of an accident, a report shall be made immediately to the VTC at Tel: 2233 7801. 

     Police are investigating an attempted murder and suicide case in Sha Tin today (January 30) in which an 80-year-old man died.
 
     At about 4.33pm, Police received a report that a man was found collapsed on the floor inside an accessible toilet with head being wrapped with a plastic bag. A woman was also found next to the man and collapsed on a wheelchair with head being wrapped with a plastic bag.

     Police officers sped to the scene. The man and the woman were rushed to Prince of Wales Hospital in unconscious state. The man was certified dead at 5.22pm, while the woman regained consciousness.
 
     Initial investigation revealed that the man and woman were couple. The man was suspected attempting to kill his 71-year-old wife by wrapping a plastic bag around her head, then committed suicide by wrapping his head with a plastic bag.
 
     The two plastic bags tied with strings, the woman’s wheelchair and the couple’s personal belongings, which were in suspected connections with the case, were seized at scene.
     
     Post-mortem examinations will be conducted later to ascertain the cause of the man’s death.
 
     Active investigation by the District Crime Squad of Sha Tin District is underway. Anyone who witnessed the incident or has any information to offer is urged to contact the investigating officers on 3661 2723.

     The Secretary for Environment and Ecology, Mr Tse Chin-wan, today (January 30) met with a Mainland delegation to exchange views on the supply and safety of food to Hong Kong. The delegation, led by the Director of the Department of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, Mr Li Xingqian, was tasked to ensure stable supply and safety of agricultural products to Hong Kong during the Chinese New Year. Members of the delegation include representatives from the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China, the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Department of Commerce of Guangdong Province.
 
     Mr Tse said that, Mainland China is the major source of agricultural products, especially live and fresh food, for Hong Kong. He thanked the delegation for visiting Hong Kong before the Chinese New Year to look at the latest situation of the supply of food from the Mainland to Hong Kong, so as to ensure people in Hong Kong have sufficient supply of high quality and diversified food.
 
     This morning, the delegation had a meeting with the officials from the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), including the Permanent Secretary for Environment and Ecology (Food), Miss Vivian Lau, and relevant officials from the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD).
 
     In the meeting, both sides discussed and noted that, with the approach of the Chinese New Year, the Ministry of Commerce has required all relevant Mainland agencies to ensure the stable supply of quality and safe agricultural products to Hong Kong during the festive season with five measures, namely, attaching importance on the stable supply of food, strengthening the sources of supply, enhancing the contingency plans, solidifying the safety defence and strengthening the sense of service.
 
     Both sides agreed that relevant departments of the two places should continue to maintain close contact and communication with a view to ensuring safety and steady supply of food products to Hong Kong from the Mainland.
 
     The delegation visited Wan Chai Market today and exchanged views with the stall representatives to learn about issues such as volume and price level of food supplied from the Mainland to Hong Kong. They also visited the Western Wholesale Food Market and were briefed by AFCD officers on the operations of the wholesale market.
 
     Relevant agencies in the Mainland have all along attached great importance to the quality, safety and stability of food supplied to Hong Kong, and established a closely-connected liaison mechanism with Hong Kong. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the Central People's Government provided continuous support to Hong Kong in terms of manpower resources and food supply. Under the leadership and support of the anti-epidemic task force of the Mainland, active co-ordination between HKSAR Government and the Mainland authorities had stabilised the supply of goods to Hong Kong, including live pigs, live cattle, vegetables, fruits and other daily food and necessities.

  

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The spokesman for Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) today (January 30) announces the root cause analysis report of a previous sentinel event:

     A 79-year-old male eye patient was admitted to CMC Ophthalmology ward on November 27, 2023 for a scheduled surgery. He was suspected to have acute intestinal obstruction and developed bacteraemia subsequently. His condition continued to deteriorate. The patient was escorted to the ICU for further treatment in the morning of November 28 2023. The patient initially received oxygen from the ward's oxygen supply, the supply was later switched through an oxygen cylinder. His blood oxygen saturation was stable at the start of transport process. However, the patient developed decrease in blood oxygen saturation after entering the elevator. Attempts were made to increase the oxygen flow, but patient's blood oxygen saturation continued to decrease. The patient was transferred from the ward to the ICU in around 1.5 minutes. Upon arrival at the ICU, healthcare team discovered that the valve of the oxygen cylinder used in the transport process had not been turned on. Oxygen supply was resumed for the patient immediately. Patient's condition deteriorated further, and intubation and cardiopulmonary resuscitation had been performed by healthcare team. However, the patient continued to deteriorate and succumbed at 12.50pm on the same day.

     The CMC announced the incident afterwards and a Root Cause Analysis Panel was formed to investigate the incident. The Panel considered that multiple factors existed in this sentinel event, including unclear role delineation of preparing monitoring equipment and oxygen cylinder prior to the transportation of critically ill patient; Inadequate clinical handover before departure as additional healthcare staff joined in to assist the pre-transport preparation, and some healthcare staff joined the transport procedure just before departure. Furthermore, the oxygen cylinder concerned had a potential space between oxygen valve and the oxygen flow adjustment knob. Residual oxygen remained in this potential space might create sound of gas flow when the oxygen flow adjustment knob was turned on despite the oxygen valve was closed. Healthcare staff might be misled by the sound of gas flow. Also, the transport of critically ill patients in the involved ward was infrequent and there was insufficient in-service refresher training.

     The panel made the following recommendations:

1. Refresher in-service training should be strengthened to healthcare professionals who need to handle with the use of oxygen cylinder and who need to participate in transport of critically ill patients.
2. Role delineation of transport team members should be specified in both preparation phase and during the transport procedure. Patient's condition should be reviewed before departure and where appropriate, more experienced team such as intensive care team, could be consulted.
3. Clinical handover and documentation should be emphasized in the whole transport of critically ill patient process with the use of transportation form and checklist. Crew resources management training is suggested to enhance communication in handling critically ill patients.
4. Feedback the potential pitfalls related to the design and the use of oxygen cylinder to Quality & Safety team of the Hospital Authority Head Office.
5. Put up education poster about the proper use of oxygen cylinders at oxygen cylinder storage locations and the use of cue card attached to each oxygen cylinder.

     CMC will implement the relevant recommendations to enhance the safety of transport of critically ill patients. The hospital has met with family members to explain the report's findings. The CMC once again apologizes and expresses its deep condolences for the incident. The hospital will maintain communication with family members and provide necessary assistance.

     CMC has submitted the report to the Hospital Authority Head Office. The hospital also expressed gratitude to the panel. Membership of the panel is as follows:
     
Chairperson:

Dr Raymond Cheung Wai-man
Service Director (Quality & Safety), Kowloon West Cluster, Hospital Authority

Members:

Dr Rita So Ching-yee
Chief of Service, Department of Anaesthesia, Princess Margaret Hospital/ North Lantau Hospital/ Yan Chai Hospital

Ms Mak Wai-ling
Department Operations Manager, Intensive Care Unit, Princess Margaret Hospital/ Yan Chai Hospital

Dr George Ng Wing-yiu
Chief of Service, Intensive Care Unit, Queen Elizabeth Hospital

Mr William Chan Yuk-wing
Nurse Consultant (Emergency Care), Department of Accident and Emergency, New Territories West Cluster, Hospital Authority

Mr Chan Man-nok
Chief Nursing Officer, Nursing Services Department, Hospital Authority Head Office

Dr Nicole Chau Suet-ming
Senior Manager (Patient Safety & Risk Management), Quality & Safety Division, Hospital Authority Head Office

     The Secretary for Transport and Logistics, Mr Lam Sai-hung, began his visit programme to Singapore today (January 30).

     In the morning, Mr Lam visited the port in Singapore where he had a bird's eye view of the Pasir Panjang Terminals. He also visited an exhibition on the Tuas Port, which is currently under development, and was briefed by representatives of PSA International on the latest developments in automated port operations as well as energy conservation and emission reductions.  

     Mr Lam later attended a luncheon to share with trade representatives his views on the developments in transport and logistics, and took the opportunity to promote Hong Kong's strengths and business opportunities. He pointed out that the pandemic and the latest international landscape had made significant changes to global aviation, maritime and logistics, and led to the emergence of new supply chains. The Transport and Logistics Bureau promulgated in late 2023 two major action plans on the development strategy of modern logistics as well as maritime and port, formulating strategies and action measures in accordance with the latest situation with a view to supporting the sustainable development needs of Hong Kong and enhancing the long-term competitiveness of its trades.

     He also met with officials from the Maritime and Port Authority and the Land Transport Authority of Singapore respectively to exchange views on issues of mutual concern. He also interacted with local trade representatives to learn about the business environment in Singapore, and shed light on Hong Kong's latest developments in transport and logistics. 

     Mr Lam will continue his visit tomorrow (January 31) and meet with local officials.