A key achievement in the past year has been the division's ability to serve the needs and priorities of its key clients, namely the Hospital Authority, Department of Health, Prince Philip Dental Hospital and the Government Laboratory. As clients are increasingly required to rationalise costs while providing better service to the community, the division also undertook numerous initiatives to constantly review and improve its services. These included programmes to enhance productivity and staff training, especially in the specialist field of medical equipment engineering, as well as programmes to enhance value-added services to customers.

An example where this division demonstrated a high level of skill and reliability was the successful management of a planned suspension of electricity in early 1999 at the Prince of Wales Hospital, in connection with the construction of a new trauma and emergency centre. The task involved the relocation of two high-voltage main electrical cables over a period of two days, leading to the necessary suspension of electricity supply. At the same time, temporary power supply had to continue uninterrupted during the course of the cable diversion works to critical services such as intensive care and burns units, and to the various wards and clinical departments. With meticulous planning and execution, the task was completed smoothly, on schedule and without any interruption to normal hospital operations.

The division is well positioned to provide unique value added services to customers due to its economies of scale in the provision of engineering support, and its strong bargaining power in making bulk purchases. This applies to the entire spectrum of the division's services - hospital engineering, hospital building services and medical electronics. Also, staff knowledge in the procurement, operation and maintenance of medical electronics is probably unrivaled in Hong Kong.

The division is also a pioneer in new initiatives that will further enhance service reliability. It is an active participant in a study to implement the wider application of condition-based maintenance that will minimise equipment down time. Division staff also conducted a Y2K walk-through for over 20 hospitals, alerting clients to possible Y2K problems in embedded electronic systems, and to necessary rectification works.