Visits to accident and emergency departments at public hospitals should cost patients just as much as if they went private, a former hospital official said on Monday.

Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau recently proposed higher charges for patients who turn up at public hospital A&E departments with minor problems – coupled with lower fees for those in urgent need of treatment – as a way to deter abuse of medical resources.

But Luk Che-chung, a former head of the Hong Kong East cluster of public hospitals, told RTHK that such a move could lead to arguments between staff and patients.

"Right now, if the nurse says one patient is not as urgent as the other, people won't argue because it's a professional judgement. Everyone pays the same amount," he said.

"But if the patient needs to pay more because the patient isn't using emergency services in a suitable manner, that can easily lead to conflicts."

A better move, Luk said, would be for the government to work with the private sector to ensure that fees at all accident and emergency departments in the city are similar.

"Say if people need to pay HK$500 for A&E services at both the public and private hospitals, then they'd go private so they don't need to go to congested public hospitals for the same service," he said.

Luk added, however, that the government would also need to ensure that any increase in the current HK$180 A&E fee at public hospitals doesn't lead to private hospitals pushing up their charges.

Speaking on the same programme, Ivan Lin from the Society for Community Organisation said he isn't sure that increasing A&E fees at public hospitals will help bring down waiting times.

He said a better solution would be to make it easier for people to get an appointment at an out-patient clinic, where visits cost HK$50.