Police Commissioner Joe Chow said on Saturday that the force was looking into whether negligence allowed a robbery and theft suspect to escape from hospital while under guard by officers.

The suspect was recaptured in Yuen Long hours after the escape on Friday.

Speaking following a passing-out parade of officers, Chow was asked if there was any loophole in the procedures for escorting a suspect.

"Our internal guidelines clearly define how to escort and handle a suspect," he said.

"With regards to this case, we are investigating whether there is any negligence involved," he said.

"If there is, we cannot rule out that the next move will be disciplinary hearings and actions, etc."

The force, he stressed, cannot allow such incidents to happen again and will look for any technology assistance that will better enable officers to carry out their work.

The 35-year-old suspect had escaped from Queen Elizabeth Hospital when he was being escorted for an X-ray scan.