The Hospital Authority's chief pharmacist said on Thursday the upcoming hike in medication fees will help to subsidise the purchase of new drugs, as well as those used to fight cancer or rare diseases.

Starting January, patients have to pay HK$20 for a four-week supply of drugs, up from the current HK$15 for a 16-week supply.

Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, William Chui pointed out that the government is still covering nearly all healthcare costs even with the hike.

"The government now subsidises 92 to 93 percent of the cost of a drug," he said.

"Even after increasing the fees, 90 percent of the cost is still covered.

"Therefore, we cannot actually recover the cost of the drug, we can only hope to reduce waste.

"We hope patients will understand that – when there is medicine they do not need or when they have a lot of drugs left over at home, they can let their doctors know."

He emphasised that even though each prescription is set to be for a maximum for four weeks, this does not mean patients have to return to hospitals and clinics for another prescription after the period.

Otherwise, the workload of pharmacies will be much heavier, he said.

Chui added that patients can still be dispensed a maximum supply of 24 weeks each time.

Meanwhile, the consultant of the accident and emergency wards of the New Territories East cluster believes higher fees for A&E wards will not discourage patients from turning up.

"If you ask whether the higher charge will cause patients to not come, I believe it won't," Cheng Chi-hung said.

"Because they will gradually know how to assess the situation.

"Sometimes patients might not be clear about their condition.

"Obviously, for a cold, they will turn to primary healthcare.

"But when it comes to cases like a sprain after exercising, or a suspected bone fracture, I believe patients will still choose to head to accident and emergency wards."

Non-critical and non-emergency cases, or those deemed as category three to five patients, will need to pay HK$400 per visit – up from the present flat rate of HK$180 – starting next year.

Hung noted that it is difficult to predict that there will be a decline in the number of A&E patients, even though the figure dropped by five percent after the previous fee increment in 2017.