We were pleased to receive an Executive Brief on the hospital from Dr.  Hung and Ms Tse: 1. Hospital Data (as at 31 5  March 2008) 1 . Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) is a major acute hospital with 1,764 beds.  It provides 24 hour accident and emergency service with a full complement of 16 medical specialities, and operates three Specialist Clinics and five General Outpatient Clinics . Specialist Clinics General Outpatient Clinic Ambulatory Care Centre Yau Ma Tei Jockey Club Clinic `L' Block Clinic Shun Tak Fraternal Association Leung Kau Kui Clinic Yau Ma Tei Specialist Clinic Hung Hom Clinic Central Kowloon Health Centre Lee Kee Memorial Dispensary 2. QEH has a total of 4,623 staff, including 536 doctors, 1,686 nurses, 480 allied health, 45 management and 1,876 supporting staff. 3 . The total recurrent expenditure of QEH for 2007/2008 was $2,814M. 4 . Activity data sheet of QEH for the past three years is attached . 11 . Special Features 1 . QEH provides care of a high level of intensity for patients in all clinical specialties .  It is also a tertiary referral centre for many of it  clinical specialties in Hong Kong, notably services for cancer, chest and heart diseases, nervous system diseases and urogynaecological diseases . 2 . QEH is a teaching hospital for basic, undergraduate and post-graduate training of doctors, nurses and allied health professional staff, establishing close relationships with all related tertiary education institutes .  QEH is  frequently visited by overseas and Mainland health care workers. 3 . QEH establishes partnerships with the public and other healthcare institutions of organisations in pioneering professional  development and health services, e.g .  Patient Resource Centre, Adolescent Medical Centre, Hospital Volunteer Services, Nursing Education, Public Health Education, Rehabilitation Services etc . 111.  Formation of Kowloon Central Cluster The Kowloon Central Cluster (KCC) was formed on 1  October 2002, which heralded in a new milestone - all hospitals and institutions in the cluster were officially bonded together into one big family in an endeavour to provide integrated and seamless service to meet the needs of the community. QEH joined with five other members of KCC, namely, the H.K .  Buddhist Hospital, H.K .   Red Cross Blood Transfusion Services, H.K .  Eye Hospital, Kowloon Hospital and Rehab aid Centre .   Under the aegis of the Hospital Authority (HA), each member had contributed significantly in its prescribed role in the past decade, particularly in the provision and delivery of quality patient-centred health care services .  Five General Out-patient Clinics (GOPC'S) were added to the Cluster in July 2003 .