A makeshift hospital constructed in the Lok Ma Chau Loop area to look after Covid patients will start providing diagnostic radiology services from Wednesday, officials have announced.

Up to 19 CT scans and nine MRI scans will be carried out each weekday at the Central Government-aided Emergency Hospital using machines from the mainland, the Hospital Authority said.

Those eligible to use the pilot programme will be patients aged between 12 and 80 who are categorised as semi-urgent and who have been waiting for a scan for more than 8 months, as well as patients in a stable condition who have been waiting for more than 18 months.

Dr Paul Lee who chairs the authority's Coordinating Committee in Radiology conceded that the hospital is not in the most convenient location.

“We all understand that the location of this hospital is remote. That’s the reason why we definitely will provide reasonable transport services to staff and also citizens,” he said

The authority said it was also looking at other potential uses for the health facility that was commissioned by the central government during Hong Kong's fifth wave of Covid infections.