Urgent spinal patients spared long wait in new clinic

The Prince of Wales Hospital says its integrated spinal clinic where physiotherapists and bone specialists work together as a team is able to speed up the diagnosis and treatment of serious cases.

The hospital launched the clinic in October 2024 to address long waiting times for patients seeking an orthopaedic specialist appointment, while over 13,600 new cases were recorded in 2025/26 alone.

As of the end of last year, nearly 2,500 patients have been triaged by physiotherapists at the clinic – with an average wait of just two to three days.

Senior physiotherapist Chloe Leung said that around 28 percent, or 712 patients have received physiotherapy within two to three weeks, easing their pain while they waited to see a specialist.

"Besides triage and screening, physiotherapists will provide the early treatment to the patients to improve the patient's outcome and prevent chronicity," she said.

"More importantly, we will help the patient to self-manage their condition while waiting for their first orthopaedic consultation and teach them about the warning sign for the emergency condition so that they can catch the immediate medical attention without delay."

Law Sheung-wai, honorary head of orthopaedics and traumatology at the hospital, said the clinic's goal was to provide timely treatment for patients, instead of cutting waiting times for everyone.

That said, he revealed that around two percent of patients who were diagnosed as urgent cases were attended to by a specialist as soon as one week.

Edited by Raymond Yeung ...