Direct cross-boundary ambulance transfer service between Guangdong province and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is expected to become available later this month.

The second drill for the service was conducted on Thursday from the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital in Shenzhen, Guangdong to the Tuen Mun Hospital in Hong Kong.

Having obtained the quota for cross-boundary ambulances of Guangdong and Hong Kong, the Shenzhen ambulance participating in the drill can travel between Hong Kong and Shenzhen with dual license plates of the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong, according to the Guangdong provincial health commission.

The first phase of the Pilot Scheme for Direct Cross-boundary Ambulance Transfer in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is limited to transfers from the University of Hong Kong - Shenzhen Hospital to designated public hospitals in Hong Kong.

The cross-boundary ambulance mechanism will only be activated when a prior agreement between the sending hospital and the receiving hospital has been reached, taking the clinical needs, safety and interests of patients as the prime concerns, with a mechanism in place to prevent misuse.