Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ2: Obstetris services provided by Tuen Mun Hospital

Following is a question by the Hon Tam Yiu-chung and an oral reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (January 11):

Question:

It has been reported that the obstetric services provided by Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) have failed to meet the demand. As a result, some women have to go to public hospitals in other districts for delivery. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of delivery cases handled by the Department of Obstetrics of TMH in each of the past three years, and among those women giving birth, the number and percentage of those who are non-Hong Kong residents;

(b) of the anticipated number of delivery cases which can be handled by TMH in each of the next three years; and

(c) whether it plans to increase the medical and nursing manpower and resources of the Department of Obstetrics of TMH so as to satisfy the service demand of Tuen Mun District; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) In the past three years, the number of delivery cases handled by Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH) are as follows -

* 5 420 delivery cases in 2003, of which 1 215 cases (or 22.4%) were by Non-eligible Persons (NEPs);

* 5 701 delivery cases in 2004, of which 1 699 cases (or 29.8%) were by NEPs;

* 6 043 delivery cases in 2005, of which 2 066 cases (or 34.2%) were by NEPs.


(b) The Hospital Authority (HA) estimates that TMH should be able to handle around 6 000 delivery cases per year in the next three years.

(c) To meet the demand for obstetrics services in New Territories West, the HA is considering the temporary redeployment of staff from other hospital clusters to TMH as a contingency measure for alleviating the pressure faced by the hospital's Obstetrics Department. In addition, the HA will provide additional manpower resources for the Obstetrics Department of TMH, which include a plan to recruit additional doctors and midwifes for the Department in July this year.

At present, the overall supply of medical personnel in obstetrics is relatively tight. The HA has already adopted a more flexible mode of employment, so as to engage some obstetrics specialists in private practise to provide service in public hospitals on a part-time basis and contribute to the training of young doctors.

The HA will continue to monitor the use of its obstetrics services very closely and will deploy resources appropriately and flexibly to meet service demand. If and when necessary, the HA will increase the number of specialist training places in obstetrics and strengthen training in midwifery.


Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:15

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