Public cardiology waiting time 2026: no separate Hospital Authority figure, Medicine figures by cluster (for reference) and public vs private fees
The waiting times the Hospital Authority regularly publishes do not list cardiology separately; for reference, from October 2025 to September 2026 the median waiting time for stable new cases in Hospital Authority Medicine was 28 to 61 weeks by cluster (about 6 to 14 months), and the medians for urgent and semi-urgent new cases in Medicine were 1 week or less and 4 to 6 weeks respectively. The actual order is decided by healthcare staff according to the patient's condition.
How long is the wait for cardiology? The Hospital Authority does not list it separately; Medicine figures by cluster (for reference)
The Hospital Authority publishes new-case waiting times for eight specialties every quarter and does not list cardiology separately; cardiology is a specialty under the Hong Kong College of Physicians. The table below shows the Hospital Authority's figures for Medicine, for reference only.
For reference, from October 2025 to September 2026 Medicine had 167,440 booked new cases in total, about 75% of them stable new cases; the median waiting time for stable new cases in Medicine (for reference) ranged from 28 to 61 weeks across the seven clusters (on the former boundaries).
‘Stable (90th percentile)’ is what the Hospital Authority calls the ‘longest’ waiting time: nine in ten stable new cases were seen before this point; it does not mean you will necessarily wait this long.
| Hospital cluster | Urgent (median) | Semi-urgent (median) | Stable (median) | Stable (90th percentile) | Stable (median) compared with the previous quarter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hong Kong East | 1 week | 6 weeks | 31 weeks | 72 weeks | 29 weeks → 31 weeks (+2 weeks) |
| Hong Kong West | Less than 1 week | 4 weeks | 28 weeks | 48 weeks | 27 weeks → 28 weeks (+1 week) |
| Kowloon Central | 1 week | 6 weeks | 61 weeks | 99 weeks | 65 weeks → 61 weeks (-4 weeks) |
| Kowloon East | 1 week | 5 weeks | 29 weeks | 76 weeks | 33 weeks → 29 weeks (-4 weeks) |
| Kowloon West | 1 week | 6 weeks | 42 weeks | 87 weeks | 47 weeks → 42 weeks (-5 weeks) |
| New Territories East | 1 week | 6 weeks | 37 weeks | 85 weeks | 36 weeks → 37 weeks (+1 week) |
| New Territories West | Less than 1 week | 6 weeks | 48 weeks | 66 weeks | 47 weeks → 48 weeks (+1 week) |
Public or private? How long each institution takes and what each consultation costs
The table below puts the Hospital Authority's seven hospital clusters (Medicine stable new cases, October 2025 to September 2026, for reference on cardiology) side by side with the 9 private hospitals and medical centres that publish cardiology consultation fees, so you can compare the wait and the fee yourself. This site does not rank them; the order is fixed and has nothing to do with speed or price.
Public (Medicine, for reference): the median waiting time for stable new cases in Medicine ranges from 28 to 61 weeks, a difference of 33 weeks between the shortest and longest cluster in Medicine; the fee per attendance is the same. Private: the hospitals' fee schedules do not list waiting times, and consultation fees depend on the institution and the doctor's grade, with medicines and tests charged separately.
| Institution | How long the wait is | Fee per consultation (HK$) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public: Hospital Authority Hong Kong East Cluster | 31 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster | 28 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority Kowloon Central Cluster | 61 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority Kowloon East Cluster | 29 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority Kowloon West Cluster | 42 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority New Territories East Cluster | 37 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Public: Hospital Authority New Territories West Cluster | 48 weeks (Medicine stable new cases, median, for reference) | HK$250 (Eligible Persons) | Referral letter needed |
| Private: Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Stubbs Road | Not listed in the fee schedule | First consultation: HK$1,500; follow-up: HK$1,200 | A facility fee is charged extra for doctors not based at this hospital; medicines and similar items charged separately |
| Private: Hong Kong Adventist Hospital – Tsuen Wan | Not listed in the fee schedule | HK$800 to HK$1,200 per consultation (first and follow-up visits not distinguished) | Medicines, laboratory tests and similar items charged separately |
| Private: CUHK Medical Centre | Not listed in the fee schedule | Specialist / assistant professor grade HK$1,000 to HK$2,500; professor grade HK$1,500 to HK$3,000 (the fee schedule lists only the first consultation) | Fee depends on the doctor's grade; medicines and similar items charged separately |
| Private: Gleneagles Hospital Hong Kong Cardiology Clinic | Not listed in the fee schedule | First consultation: HK$1,200 to HK$1,500; follow-up: HK$1,200 to HK$1,500 | Medicines, laboratory tests and similar items charged separately |
| Private: The Specialists Day Procedure Centre | Not listed in the fee schedule | First consultation: HK$1,000; follow-up: HK$800 | Medicines charged separately |
| Private: Hong Kong Baptist Hospital Chiu Hin Kwong Heart Centre | Not listed in the fee schedule | HK$1,000 (only one consultation fee listed) (first and follow-up visits not distinguished) | Fee for Honorary Clinical Professors on enquiry |
| Private: HKBH East Kowloon Medical Centre Cardiology Clinic | Not listed in the fee schedule | HK$1,000 (only one consultation fee listed) (first and follow-up visits not distinguished) | Located in Kwun Tong |
| Private: Precious Blood Hospital (Caritas) | Not listed in the fee schedule | HK$650 to HK$900 (only one consultation fee listed) (first and follow-up visits not distinguished) | Medicines, laboratory tests and similar items charged separately |
| Private: Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital Cardiology Centre | Not listed in the fee schedule | First consultation: Up to HK$2,500 (up to HK$3,000 if extended because of the patient's condition); follow-up: Up to HK$1,300 (up to HK$2,000 if extended because of the patient's condition) | Fee cap for appointments in office hours, for that hospital's doctors only; fees outside office hours or for emergency consultations are adjusted separately; medicines charged separately |
How is the order of the wait decided?
Referred cases are usually first assessed by a nurse and then reviewed by a specialist, and are classified into three categories: urgent, semi-urgent and stable. The Hospital Authority's target is to keep the median waiting time for urgent and semi-urgent new cases within two weeks and eight weeks respectively.
If your condition gets worse while you wait, you can contact the clinic to ask for an earlier appointment; in an emergency, you may also attend the Accident and Emergency Department.
You can choose to book in another cluster, but healthcare staff might, depending on your condition, advise you to attend a clinic near your home.
How much do public and private cardiology fees differ?
From 1 January 2026, Eligible Persons pay HK$250 per attendance at Hospital Authority specialist outpatient clinics, the same for first and follow-up visits; for private fees, the examples are the cardiology consultation fees published on hospital and medical centre websites, with medicines and tests charged separately. For details, see Private cardiologist fees compared.
| Item | Hospital Authority specialist outpatient clinic (Eligible Persons) | Private cardiology outpatient clinic (examples published on hospital and medical centre websites) |
|---|---|---|
| Consultation fee | HK$250 per attendance, the same for first and follow-up visits | Compiled by this site: about HK$650 to HK$3,000 for a first consultation or per consultation, depending on the institution and the doctor's grade; about HK$800 to HK$1,500 at institutions that publish a follow-up fee; at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, the fee for a follow-up extended because of the patient's condition is capped at HK$2,000 |
| Medicines | HK$20 per drug item, charged in units of 4 weeks (self-financed drugs excluded) | Charged separately |
| Pathology tests | Basic items free; Intermediate HK$50 per item; Advanced HK$200 per item | Charged separately by item |
| Non-emergency radiology | Basic items free; Intermediate HK$250 per item; Advanced HK$500 per item | Charged separately by item |
| Waiting | Arranged by triage; for reference, from October 2025 to September 2026 the median waiting time for stable new cases in Hospital Authority Medicine was 28 to 61 weeks by cluster | Ask the clinic about available appointment times |
Can I take a Hospital Authority referral letter to a private hospital for heart tests? Fee examples
Some private hospitals offer set fees for specified tests to patients holding a Hospital Authority referral letter. For example, the CUHK Medical Centre Cardiology Centre lists: electrocardiogram (ECG) HK$530, exercise ECG HK$2,500, 24-hour ECG HK$2,750 and echocardiogram HK$2,850; the original Hospital Authority referral letter must be shown, and these fees do not apply to inpatients. For other hospitals' arrangements, ask them directly.
Common misunderstandings
‘The Hospital Authority promises that urgent cases see a doctor within two weeks’: not so. Two weeks and eight weeks are the targets the Hospital Authority sets for the median waiting time of urgent and semi-urgent new cases, not a deadline for every patient; when a target is met, at least half of the cases are seen before then. In a reply to the Legislative Council the Government also said the Hospital Authority had kept ‘the pledge on the median waiting time of first-priority and second-priority cases’ (April 2019); this too refers to the median waiting time, not a deadline for every patient.
‘Stable new cases have no waiting time target’: not so. The Hospital Authority uses the 90th percentile (the ‘longest’ waiting time) as the main service indicator for stable new cases (Secretary for Health, Legislative Council speech, October 2022). The Hospital Authority has set a target of halving, within five years, the 90th percentile waiting time for stable new cases at specialist outpatient clinics in seven designated specialties — Ear, Nose and Throat, Ophthalmology, Gynaecology, Medicine, Orthopaedics, Psychiatry and Surgery — with a first-phase reduction of 10% in 2027-28 (Chief Executive's 2026 Policy Address, September 2026).
Frequently asked questions
Does the Hospital Authority have a waiting time for cardiology?
The specialist outpatient new-case waiting times the Hospital Authority regularly publishes every quarter are listed for eight specialties: Ear, Nose and Throat, Gynaecology, Medicine, Ophthalmology, Orthopaedics, Paediatrics, Psychiatry and Surgery; there is no separate figure for cardiology.
Is the published ‘longest’ waiting time how long I will have to wait?
No. The ‘longest’ is the 90th percentile for stable new cases, meaning nine in ten stable new cases were seen before then; your actual wait is arranged by healthcare staff according to your condition.
Can I book in a cluster with a shorter wait?
Patients can choose, as they wish, to book a specialist outpatient new case in another cluster, but healthcare staff might, depending on the condition, advise and arrange for the patient to attend a specialist outpatient clinic near home.
How much do public specialist outpatient clinics charge now?
From 1 January 2026, Eligible Persons pay HK$250 per attendance at Hospital Authority specialist outpatient clinics and HK$20 per prescribed drug item (charged in units of 4 weeks), with separate charges for some laboratory tests and non-emergency radiology examinations; for Non-eligible Persons, a specialist outpatient attendance is generally HK$850.