How seeing a doctor works in Hong Kong 2026: how public and private healthcare divide the work, referral, waiting and fees
General outpatient services in Hong Kong are mainly provided by the private sector and non-governmental organisations, while the Hospital Authority provides highly subsidised public services through public hospitals, specialist outpatient clinics and Family Medicine Clinics. A public specialist requires a referral letter issued by a locally registered doctor within three months, and new cases wait after triage by urgency; from 1 January 2026, Eligible Persons pay HK$250 per specialist outpatient attendance and HK$400 per Accident and Emergency attendance.
How do public and private healthcare in Hong Kong divide the work?
General outpatient and allied health services are mainly provided by the private sector and non-governmental organisations; private Western medicine clinics recorded about 26 million attendances in 2023-24 (Hong Kong Yearbook 2024).
The Hospital Authority manages public hospitals and related healthcare service units, and provides public medical and rehabilitation services through its hospitals, specialist clinics, general outpatient clinics and outreach service units (Hong Kong Yearbook 2024). General outpatient clinics have been called Family Medicine Clinics from 11 October 2025 (Government press release, October 2025).
Hong Kong has 14 private hospitals, which admitted a total of 345,761 inpatients in 2023, 15% of all inpatients in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Yearbook 2024).
After the public healthcare fees and charges reform took effect on 1 January 2026, the Government still maintains a subsidy of up to 95% for public healthcare services overall (Government reply to the Legislative Council, March 2026).
For how to book Family Medicine Outpatient Services, see Booking a general outpatient clinic.
What are the steps to see a public specialist?
First you need a referral: Hospital Authority specialist outpatient clinics provide specialist care for patients referred by general outpatient clinics (now called Family Medicine Clinics), private doctors or family doctors (Government reply to the Legislative Council, November 2023).
To book a new appointment at a public hospital specialist outpatient clinic, you must provide a referral letter issued by a locally registered doctor within the last three months (Hospital Authority, January 2018).
New referrals to specialist outpatient clinics are usually first screened by a nurse and then reviewed by a specialist in the specialty concerned, and classified as first priority (urgent), second priority (semi-urgent) or routine (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 (Government reply to the Legislative Council, April 2026).
Specialist outpatients in a stable condition may be referred to family medicine and general outpatient clinics or private doctors (Hong Kong Yearbook 2024).
For the booking steps, see How to book a new appointment at a public specialist outpatient clinic; for referral letter requirements, see Do I need a referral letter to see a specialist?; for a comparison of public and private specialists, see Public or private specialist?.
How does Accident and Emergency work?
18 public hospitals in Hong Kong provide accident and emergency services, and Accident and Emergency Departments classify patients by clinical condition into five categories: critical, emergency, urgent, semi-urgent and non-urgent (Hong Kong Yearbook 2024).
Patients with non-urgent conditions should avoid using Accident and Emergency Departments and, as far as possible, attend Family Medicine Outpatient Services, private doctors or private hospital 24-hour outpatient services, to relieve the pressure on public hospital Accident and Emergency Departments (Hospital Authority, September 2026).
For Accident and Emergency fees, triage categories and refunds, see Accident and Emergency fees, triage and refunds.
How much does public healthcare cost?
Eligible Persons pay the charges in the table below: Eligible Persons include holders of a Hong Kong Identity Card issued under the Registration of Persons Ordinance (Cap. 177) (except those who obtained it by virtue of a permission to land or remain that has expired or is no longer valid), children under 11 who are Hong Kong residents, and other persons approved by the Hospital Authority Chief Executive.
From 1 January 2026 the Hospital Authority sets an annual charge cap of HK$10,000 per patient, counted by calendar year, which all Hong Kong residents can apply for, and the cap applies to all public charges for Eligible Persons, but excludes inpatient charges in special wards and self-financed drugs and devices (Government paper to the Legislative Council, April 2025); the cap has no means test (Government reply to the Legislative Council, April 2026).
From January to March 2026 the proportion of patients who used Hospital Authority services without paying anything was 27.9% (20.7% in the same period of 2025), and the median medical expenditure per patient was HK$375, including cases with medical fee waivers (Government paper to the Legislative Council, May 2026).
About 600,000 people, namely Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients, Old Age Living Allowance recipients aged 75 or above and holders of Level 0 vouchers under the Residential Care Service Voucher Scheme for the Elderly, received full waivers of medical fees both before and after the reform; together with other eligible low-income people, a total of about 2,000,000 people could potentially benefit from medical fee waivers (Government reply to the Legislative Council, April 2026).
For the overall fees reform, see Public healthcare fees and charges reform 2026; for waiver applications, see Applying for a medical fee waiver; for the charges for those without Eligible Person status, see Public hospital fees for Non-eligible Persons.
| Service | Charge for Eligible Persons (from 1 January 2026) |
|---|---|
| Accident and Emergency | HK$400 per attendance (Category I critical and Category II emergency patients are exempted) |
| Specialist outpatient clinic | HK$250 per attendance |
| Family Medicine Clinic | HK$150 per attendance |
| Acute bed | HK$300 per day |
How do private doctors and private hospitals charge?
Private doctors' fees are regulated by the professional code: a doctor must disclose the amount of the consultation fee when the patient asks, and must not overcharge; the Medical Council judges whether a fee is excessive by principles such as the difficulty of the service, the fees generally charged for similar services in Hong Kong and the doctor's experience (Medical Council Code of Professional Conduct, October 2022).
All private hospitals in Hong Kong currently voluntarily publish fee schedules for major chargeable items, provide budget estimates of service fees for 30 common and non-emergency treatments / procedures, and publish statistics on their actual charges (Legislative Council Secretariat Essentials, 2026).
For fees by private hospital and specialty, see Private specialist consultation fees overview and Private hospital 24-hour outpatient fees.
How do I check waiting times and doctor information?
The Hospital Authority publishes, through DATA.GOV.HK, new-case waiting times for specialist outpatient clinics (updated quarterly in January, April, July and October) and the waiting time at each Accident and Emergency Department (updated every 15 minutes).
The Government runs the Primary Care Directory, an online database listing the practice details and professional qualifications of primary healthcare providers in the community; as at 31 January 2026 it listed about 4,000 doctors of Western medicine (Government paper to the Legislative Council, March 2026).
For waiting times, see Public specialist outpatient waiting times and How to read Hospital Authority waiting times; to check a doctor's registration, see How to check a doctor's registration and specialty in Hong Kong.
Frequently asked questions
How much do Hong Kong public hospitals charge in 2026?
From 1 January 2026, Eligible Persons pay HK$400 per Accident and Emergency attendance (Category I critical and Category II emergency patients are exempted), HK$250 per specialist outpatient attendance, HK$150 per Family Medicine Clinic attendance and HK$300 per day for an acute bed.
Are there rules on private doctors' fees?
Yes: doctors must not overcharge (Medical Council Code of Professional Conduct, October 2022).
After the fees reform, how many patients pay nothing at all?
From January to March 2026 the proportion of patients who used Hospital Authority services without paying anything was 27.9%, compared with 20.7% in the same period of 2025 (Government paper to the Legislative Council, May 2026).