Talk Series of "Centred on People : Specialist Healthcare Services and Everyday Life"

Co-Organised by TWGHs Records and Heritage Office and Hong Kong Public Libraries

Subject talks on "Centred on People : Specialist Healthcare Services and Everyday Life" 

First talk "A Matter of Life and Death : Development of Emergency Medicine"(rescheduled on 16 September 2023 due to typhoon )

Speaker: Dr WONG Tai-wai (Former Consultant of Accident & Emergency Department of Kwong Wah Hospital and former President of Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine)

Venue: Lecture Theatre, G/F, Hong Kong Central Library

Language: Cantonese

Introduction: The Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department is the gateway to a hospital. People with all sorts of health conditions walk through its doors and are never turned away. How do the A&E doctors race against the clock to save patients from the brink of death? Hong Kong’s earliest A&E Department was established in Queen Mary Hospital in 1947. Before the Second World War, how were medical emergencies handled? After the war, Emergency Medicine has gone through various stages of development. In 1997, the Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine became a member of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and training of specialists in Emergency Medicine was normalised. How do specialists in Emergency Medicine learn the many skills they are required to have?
This talk will give you a glimpse of the A&E Department while illustrating the history of Emergency Medicine as well as its relationship with Hong Kong's social development.

Recording of the lecture: https://rho.tungwah.org.hk/en/videos

Second talk "Circle of Life: Evolution of Obstetrics and Midwifery" (held on 7 October 2023)

Speaker: Ms Alice SHAM (Former General Manager (Nursing) of Kwong Wah Hospital and Founding President of Hong Kong College of Midwives)

Venue: Lecture Theatre, G/F, Hong Kong Central Library

Language: Cantonese

Introduction: The evolution of medical practices and technologies in Hong Kong sheds light on the development of the city’s obstetric services. In the “Age of Wenpo (Chinese midwives)” more than a century ago, women gave birth at home. Subsequently, western midwives were introduced and the government vigorously encouraged women to give birth in hospitals in an effort to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates. The demand for midwives surged as a result. After the Second World War, society gradually stabilised, and while the demand for obstetric services continued to grow, a baby boom put the obstetric services of public hospitals under unbearable strain. Indeed, the development of obstetrics was inextricably linked with society and people’s livelihood.

The obstetric services of Kwong Wah Hospital played a major role in the development of Obstetrics in Hong Kong. Countless babies have been born in the hospital since its establishment in 1911. In 2017, Kwong Wah Hospital transferred the records of its Labour Room from 1935 to 1991 to the TWGHs Records and Heritage Office for permanent preservation and research purposes. In this talk, the speaker will offer a detailed account of how obstetric and midwife services were linked to social development in Hong Kong. She will also share the insights she gained from examining the records of the Labour Room of Kwong Wah Hospital.

Recording of the lecture: https://rho.tungwah.org.hk/en/videos

Third talk "Saving Lives, Helping the Needy: Yau Ma Tei Public Dispensary and Kwong Wah Hospital"( held on 11 November 2023 )

Speakers: Dr MAK Siu-ka (Consultant of Department of Medicine and Geriatrics of Kwong Wah Hospital and Chief Medical Executive of TWGHs Haemodialysis Centre) and Ms Shirley TAM (Renal Nurse Consultant (Kwong Wah Hospital) of Kowloon Central Cluster)

Venue: Lecture Theatre, G/F, Hong Kong Central Library

Language: Cantonese

Introduction: Keeping abreast of social progress and changing public demand for healthcare, hospitals constantly upgrade their services. The Department of Medicine and Geriatrics of Kwong Wah Hospital comprises a number of specialist units, including Cardiology, Geriatrics Medicine, Nephrology, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Respiratory Medicine, Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Rheumatology and Neurology, along with Infectious Diseases, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care added in recent years. In specialist healthcare, Medicine and Geriatrics is the most closely related to people's livelihood.

Take Nephrology as an example: all patients suffering from renal failure require lifelong treatment. In 1981, Kwong Wah Hospital began providing haemodialysis treatment with a few hospital beds in a small area; today, the hospital houses a renal centre offering treatment and out-patient services. For decades, the hospital’s renal care team has helped patients with long-term health conditions improve their ability to care for themselves and maintain their quality of life, hoping that they can return to the community and continue with their everyday lives. In this talk, the two guest speakers will illustrate the development of the Department of Medicine and Geriatrics of Kwong Wah Hospital, with emphases on the development of Nephrology, the importance of “co-operation between doctors and nurses” in specialist healthcare development, as well as the people and events they have encountered at work.

Recording of the lecture: https://rho.tungwah.org.hk/en/videos