Hospital Authority enhances protection of patient privacy Family Medicine Clinics to only accept calls with caller ID for appointment booking
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (July 31) that, to further safeguard patients' personal data and privacy, starting from August 15, the telephone appointment system (TAS) of Family Medicine Clinics (FMCs) will only accept calls from phone numbers with caller ID for appointment booking.
The Hospital Authority, Photo source: reference image
At present, when patients call the TAS of FMCs, they are required to enter personal information by phone, such as their identity card or birth certificate number and year of birth, to verify the patient's identity. The HA has long attached great importance to protecting personal data and privacy. Therefore, starting from August 15, the FMCs will update the TAS, no longer accepting calls without a caller ID. This will enable the system to accurately record the source of each booking call, facilitate verification of patient information when necessary, and help prevent criminals from using phones without caller ID to impersonate patients when making appointments.
A spokesperson said, "The HA specifically reminds patients with episodic diseases who need consultation services to use a phone with caller ID to make appointments in the future. If a patient calls the TAS from a phone without caller ID, the system will automatically play a recorded message reminding the patient to switch to a phone with caller ID and call the FMC again. We estimate that approximately 15 000 patients will need to switch to using phones with caller ID for appointment bookings in the future."
The spokesperson added, "We encourage patients to use the Book FMC function in the HA mobile application, HA Go, which is more convenient and efficient. For chronic disease patients who require a follow-up, their booking arrangements will remain unchanged. After each follow-up visit, the FMC will arrange the next appointment based on the patient's clinical needs, and the patient does not need to call to make an appointment again."
If a patient's mobile phone has been set to hide the caller ID, they should first enable the "Show my caller ID" function in the settings before calling the TAS of an FMC. If a patient's landline has opted for a per-line blocking, they should dial 1357 before making a call to display the phone number once for that specific call , or contact the telecommunications service provider to cancel the arrangement for per-line blocking.
The telephone appointment service is only provided to people who have registered or used services in any hospital or FMC under the HA previously. New patients (i.e. those who have never registered in the HA nor used HA services) are required to bring their original identity documents and visit any FMC in person to register and verify their information before they can use the telephone appointment service. Help desks have been set up in FMCs to assist those who encounter difficulties in using the telephone appointment service.
Photo source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
Regular quotas for Hong Kong private cars using HZMB to Macao open for application
The Transport Department (TD) announced today (July 31) that a total of 1400 regular quotas for Hong Kong cross-boundary non-commercial private cars using the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) to Macao (Hong Kong quotas) will be open for application from August 7, making better use of the HZMB's carrying capacity and promoting convenient cross-boundary travel.
The Transport Department, Photo by Bastille Post
This batch of quotas accepts individuals or companies engaged in specific employment or business activities in Macao to apply for individual or company quotas respectively under "quotas with eligibility criteria". All Hong Kong permanent residents and registered companies may apply for "open quotas".
A spokesman for the TD said, "The 'open quotas' not subject to the eligibility criteria were first introduced in May 2026 and were well received by the public and local companies. By relaunching both 'quotas with eligibility criteria' and 'open quotas', we aim to offer different options to enable Hong Kong residents to drive to Macao for work, business, visiting families or sight-seeing conveniently. The Hong Kong and Macao governments will continue to adhere to the principle of making better use of the HZMB's carrying capacity and improve the arrangements concerned, thereby strengthening ties between the two places."
Application details
The 1400 Hong Kong quotas in this batch comprise 400 additional quotas agreed between the governments of Hong Kong and Macao, and 1000 reallocated quotas upon expiry. Details of different categories and their eligibility criteria are tabulated below:
Category of Hong Kong quotas
Quotas with eligibility criteria (allocated based on existing eligibility criteria)
Open quotas (open to all individuals/companies)
Individual quotas
500 (reallocated quotas)
- open to Hong Kong permanent residents who are employed with remuneration in Macao or who have established a registered company in Macao
200 (new quotas)
- open to all Hong Kong permanent residents
Company quotas
500 (reallocated quotas)
- open to companies registered in both Hong Kong and Macao, or companies registered in Hong Kong that are associated with another company registered in Macao
200 (new quotas)
- open to all companies registered in Hong Kong
Total
1 000
400
The TD reminds applicants that:
- Any individual or company can only hold one Hong Kong quota. Holders of existing individual or company quotas issued in or after July 2024 are not eligible for this batch;
- Each individual or company can only submit one application under quotas with eligibility criteria or open quotas. They will be disqualified if otherwise;
- To further ensure applicants' eligibility, during ballot registration, all applicants must fill in the reference numbers of their valid required supporting documents; and
- Applicants under quotas with eligibility criteria are also required to upload a copy of the required supporting documents (including a valid Business Registration Certificate of a Macao-registered company, a valid Non-resident Worker's Identification Card issued by the Macao Public Security Police Force or a Macao Permanent Resident Identity Card and a valid employment contract with receipts of income covering the recent three months issued by the employer in Macao).
Eligible applicants may submit their applications from 9am on August 7 until 5pm on August 20, 2026, through the GovHK website (www.gov.hk/en/residents/transport/crossboundary/hzmballot.htm), after which a ballot will be conducted. Successful balloting applicants must submit the required documents for the TD's vetting to prove that they have met the eligibility criteria on or before August 20.
Validity period of quotas
The new quotas will be valid starting from September 30, 2026, or after (subject to application progress) until September 29, 2029. The TD will arrange open applications for and reallocation of the quotas upon their expiry.
For details of the application criteria, procedures and licensing requirements of Hong Kong quotas, please visit the TD's website or call the hotline 2804 2600 for enquiries.
Hong Kong private cars using HZMB, Photo source: reference image
