The head of Hong Kong's first traditional Chinese medicine hospital has vowed to improve dispensing services after complaints of a long wait at the pharmacy from patients on opening day.

The facility in Tseung Kwan O opened its doors to patients on Thursday, but some said they had to wait half an hour to get their medication.

Bian Zhaoxiang, chief executive of the hospital, said staff had to verify the prescription several times before handing the medication to patients but that it was looking to speed up the process.

"We noticed that some patients had to wait a long time for medicine to be dispensed. We received this feedback and the team at the hospital immediately looked into the issue," he told an RTHK programme on Friday.

"We are working to improve the verification process by both our system and our staff members so as to speed up medicine dispensing."

Pointing to huge patient demand, Bian said the hospital had opened up more slots for people who wished to come in for consultations at a time when its government-subsidised outpatient services were fully booked for the first month.

The hospital doubled the number of booking slots available for the first 10 days, while adding 30 percent more places for the rest of the facility's first month of operations.