We are one of the three hospitals in the Hospital Authority which provides 24-hour clinical microbiology service. We serve 7 hospitals in Hong Kong West Cluster with almost 700,000 requests in 2020, covering both inpatient and outpatient services. Available urgent services include serology testing for organ transplant cases and screening for severe emerging infectious diseases such as SARS-CoV-2, the rapid diagnosis of which allows prompt implementation of infection control measures and better patient care. Our department is able to respond rapidly to emerging infectious disease outbreaks in society. In addition, we closely cooperate with the infection control team to investigate the source of outbreaks and to minimize the risk of hospital acquired infection.
We also provide 24-hour consultation service for clinical departments by our microbiologists from the Hospital Authority and from the University of Hong Kong. We aim to utilize the laboratory resources to serve the patients at the bedside.