A cross-boundary ambulance scheme linking Guangdong province and Hong Kong has successfully transferred its first patient from Guangzhou to a Hong Kong hospital, China Daily reports.
The patient, a 69-year-old man with serious injuries including multiple fractures and a brain contusion, was transported from the Nansha campus of Sun Yat-sen University’s First Affiliated Hospital to Tuen Mun Hospital on Wednesday. The journey crossed the mainland-SAR demarcation line via Shenzhen Bay Port.
Family members said the move was arranged because relatives were based in Hong Kong, making long-term care easier. Using a single ambulance for the entire journey avoided the need for uncomfortable, convoluted handovers at the SAR boundary.
The service’s pilot version launched in late 2024 between public hospitals in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, for non-emergency and non-critical patients. When required, a special team from Shenzhen Customs completes the patient’s registration process in advance and sets up a dedicated channel for the ambulance.
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Last November, Hong Kong’s government expanded the programme to include select hospitals in Zhuhai and Guangzhou’s Nansha district. Wednesday’s transfer was the first involving a hospital in Guangzhou.
When the expansion was announced, an official of the Nansha District Health Bureau described previous cross-border medical transfers as time-consuming, with numerous steps.
“The formal launch of this cross-border transfer service enables a one-stop, ‘point-to-point, bed-to-bed’ transfer, significantly reducing patient transfer time,” they noted.
Other cross-border medical services within the Greater Bay Area exist between Macao and the neighbouring mainland city of Zhuhai, including a fleet of ambulances used to transfer critically ill patients between the regions’ hospitals, and for emergency medical rescue cooperation.
