Having recently broken my leg, spent time in a public hospital and also done the outpatient clinic/x-ray run, I thought I would share some experiences for others who have similar or wonder how it all works.
I fell and fractured my ankle, hurt my head, knee and shoulder. Couldn't walk. A bystander called the ambulance (I was on my own at the time). Ambulance took about 10 minutes. They didn't speak much English (a little, enough), they stuck me on a stretcher, cleaned the wounds and carted me off to the nearest hospital (Yan Chai hospital in Tsuen Wan).
The A&E dept was pretty efficient. I lay on a bed for a while, several doctors came and asked me the same questions. They asked for my ID card every 10 minutes or so, so lesson #1 is ALWAYS CARRY YOUR ID CARD WITH YOU! I think the whole experience would have been far less smooth if I had not had it on me.
Took about 2 hours to get x-rayed and admitted to the hospital. (I couldn't even stand, no way I could go home at that point).
The room was fine - it had 3 beds in it, and mine was the only one occupied for the first 24 hours I was in there. They never really turn the lights off though so I found sleeping hard, but dozed a lot. People come and poke and prod you a lot and take readings - I think that's pretty normal. Visiting hours were morning (2 hours, 11-12 or so if I recall) and evening (5-8pm). While I was in the hospital I was seen by the doctors several times, got a cast put on, had a physio session, was helped to have a shower - it was all good.
On leaving you have to go to the Shroff to pay (which was in another part of the hospital). I was loaned a wheelchair for a week (free). The total cost I paid was HKD200 - HKD100 for the ambulance and 100 for the overnight and everything else. I was given various pieces of paper and told to come back in 2 weeks.
My first trip back was for an x-ray and an outpatient consultation in the Fractures Outpatient Clinics. This is where I can hopefully offer some useful information....
The first trip back, I followed the instructions on the paper. Lesson #2 IGNORE THE INSTRUCTIONS!
My appointment was 10am and I was told I needed an x-ray before it so I turned up at 9am for the x-ray. It was an absolute zoo. There was a lady handing out numbers, which was the "pre-registration". The numbers were called up in batches of 10 - this allowed you to approach the "x-ray registration" desk and register for your x-ray. (Hand over paper and ID card - no money). They then give you a different piece of paper and send you round the corner for an x-ray. There was another zoo around the corner with about 40 seats (all full) and people standing and other lying in beds. Waiting for pre-registration was about 30 mins; getting registered about 10 minutes; waiting for the actual x-ray about 2 hours. By which time my appointment was well past!
Lesson#3 - as I found out later, you can GET YOUR X-RAY DONE THE DAY BEFORE! All the clinics are at the same time, everyone turns up for their x-ray at the same time so it's a madhouse. But... if you come back in the afternoon around 4pm (before it closes at 5pm) you will find nobody. No zoo. Nobody handing out numbers. Walk straight up to the registration desk, get registered, walk around the corner to an empty x-ray area and get x-rayed straight away. Total time on my second trip employing this strategy - 15 mins from entry to exit.
You get x-rayed and then you have to go to the outpatient clinic! BUT WAIT! Don't go up to the clinic... first you have to go to the Shroff and pay. (Cost HKD60). They then give you a ticket with a number on it - a waiting number and a room number. Go upstairs to the clinic and join the zoo.
Lesson # 4 - pay NO ATTENTION AT ALL to the numbers on all the big screens. They show the person in each room, and the next 2 people. This is complete fiction. On my first trip I was showing up as "next" on the screen next to "my" room. Then my number vanished and reappeared on another room. I went and waited by that room.. I was going to be in 2 people's time... then another number (not listed) came up and went in... then another... and another... then my number vanished for a while and more people went in... and eventually my number was shown. I asked the doc when I got in what was going on - he said the system does not recognise whether the x-rays have appeared or not, so it jumps people forward whose x-rays are available. Total time at this stage - approx 1-2 hours.
(REPEAT LESSON #3 - GET YOUR x-RAY DONE THE DAY BEFORE!).
Anyway - I hope this is useful to anyone who gets injured out and about in HK. The public system is very good but it's slightly convoluted if you don't speak much English. Knowing which queue you are supposed to be in at any point in time saves a lot of hassle so if you have a Cantonese friend, bringing them to the outpatient clinic the first time you do it might be a bonus. (I did all of the above on my own, with zero Cantonese and not too many errors so its certainly not impossible to navigate).