Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ16: Utilization of resources by Hospital Authority

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 29):

Question:

Regarding the utilization of resources by Hospital Authority (HA), will the Government inform this Council of the following:

(a) at the end of each of the financial years between 2000-01 and 2006-07:

(i) in respect of each hospital cluster, the population served, the provisions and doctors and nurses per 1000 persons, as well as the respective numbers of beds for general, infirmary, mentally-ill and mentally-handicapped patients and the number to each type of such beds per 1000 persons; and

(ii)in respect of each public hospital, the amount of provisions allocated, as well as the provision for and the number of beds in each clinical department; and

(b) the extension projects launched in individual public hospitals between the financial years 2000-01 and 2006-07; details of the additional manpower and provisions provided for these hospitals by HA upon the completion of the extension projects; and among the additional manpower of such hospitals, the respective numbers of such staff transferred from other hospitals in the same cluster and those who were/will be newly appointed, and the principles on which the relevant decisions were based?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The population within the geographical boundary of each hospital cluster of the Hospital Authority (HA), the ratio of doctors and nurses per 1000 population in each cluster, the number of general beds, infirmary beds, mentally ill beds and mentally handicapped beds and the ratio of general beds per 1000 population in each cluster as at the end of the years from 2003-04 to 2005-06 are set out in Annex A. It should be noted that the provision of infirmary beds, mentally ill beds and mentally handicapped beds is not determined on a cluster basis. Since hospitals clusters were not established until late 2002 to mid 2003, statistics on cluster basis are not available for the years prior to 2003-04.

The variances in the ratios of beds and clinical staff to population among different hospital clusters can mainly be attributed to two factors. First, the provision of certain specialised services is currently centralised in only one or a few centres for better clinical outcomes and more effective deployment of expertise. Examples of these specialised services include prenatal diagnosis, cardiothoracic surgery and organ transplant. While the resources for these specialised centres are allocated to the cluster where they are geographically located, their services cater for the entire population of Hong Kong. Secondly, patients are allowed to seek medical attention in a hospital other than those in their own residential district. There is a considerable amount of cross-cluster utilisation of hospital services due to various reasons. For instance, hospitals with a longer history tend to have a larger pool of patients from another cluster, who are reluctant to switch to a hospital closer to home. Some patients may also prefer to receive treatment in a hospital close to their work place or near the home of a next-of-kin for greater convenience. Hence, the actual population served by hospital clusters may be significantly different from the size of the population within their geographical boundary.

The budget allocation for each cluster for the years from 2003-04 to 2005-06 is given in Annex B. Information on the amount of funding allocation to each specialty by individual hospital clusters is not readily available. The number of beds in each major specialty by cluster is given in Annex C.

(b) Extension projects in individual public hospitals, for which funding was approved by the Finance Committee of the Legislative Council between 2000-01 and 2005-06, are listed in Annex D. The 2006-07 financial year is yet to commence.

Generally speaking, the HA would take into account the financial and manpower implications of completed capital projects when determining the budget allocation to and manpower requirement of individual hospital clusters each year. Assessment of the financial and manpower implications of capital projects is made on the basis of past experience and projected service demand.

For the establishment of a new Radiotherapy Centre in Princess Margaret Hospital, the HA has provided an additional funding of $31 million to the Kowloon West Hospital Cluster in 2005-06 for the operation of the Centre from November 2005 to March 2006. The amount of additional funding to be provided to the Kowloon West Hospital Cluster would increase further in 2006-07 to reflect the full-year effect of the financial implication of running the Centre and the gradual phasing-in of its services. The exact amount is yet to be finalised at this time, pending the approval of HA's budget for 2006-07 by the HA Board. A total of 80 staff are currently working in the new Centre. There are eight doctors, 25 nurses, 19 allied health professionals and 28 support staff. Of these staff, 12 nurses and three support staff have been redeployed from within the Kowloon West Hospital Cluster. Three allied health professionals and nine support staff are new recruits. The rest have been redeployed from hospitals in other clusters. Redevelopment of the Accident and Emergency Department in Princess Margaret Hospital does not require additional funding or manpower resources.

Provision of additional funding and manpower resources for the other three capital projects listed in Annex D is still being assessed and relevant information is not available at this time.


Ends/Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:37

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