Health minister Lo Chung-mau said on Wednesday that patients with urgent medical needs have generally been treated faster at public hospital emergency wards since fee changes were adopted on New Year's Day.

In a written reply to a question from DAB chairman Gary Chan, Lo said some 53,000 patients classified as urgent had to wait 20 minutes on average, five minutes less than during the same period last year.

The health chief said 87 percent of urgent patients were treated within the 30-minute service pledge, nearly nine percentage points higher than in 2025.

"Since the implementation of the fees and charges reform for public healthcare, there have been signs of initial success," Lo said.

"Resources at accidents and emergency departments are more effectively focused on critical and emergency care, resulting in improved efficiency in treating emergency patients."

The minister went on to say that there have been some 59,000 semi- and non-urgent patients so far this year, around 21 percent less than during the same period in 2025.

Their average waiting time dropped by 24 minutes, to two hours.