Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ10: Medical services in Tseung Kwan O
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 1):
Question:
It has been reported that certain specialist medical services provided by the
Tseung Kwan O Hospital are inadequate, making it necessary for residents there
to obtain services from the United Christian Hospital in another district. In
this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the details of health care services planning for Tseung Kwan O; whether
it has reviewed the services to see if they can meet the present and future
demand of the district; if it has, of the details of the review; if not, the
reasons for that;
(b) given the Government's past endeavours in promoting Tseung Kwan O as a
"Healthy City", of the details of its present efforts in promoting primary
health care in Tseung Kwan O, and the current health conditions of the residents
there; and
(c) how it will coordinate the medical services in Tseung Kwan O and its
adjacent districts to avoid the Tseung Kwan O's inadequate medical services
resulting in an increase in the demand for the medical services provided in its
adjacent districts?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Kowloon East Hospital Cluster (KE Cluster) of the Hospital Authority
(HA) provides medical services to some 970 000 residents in Kowloon East, Tseung
Kwan O and Sai Kung. At present, hospitals under the KE Cluster include United
Christian Hospital (UCH), Tseung Kwan O Hospital (TKOH) and Haven of Hope
Hospital (HHH). In order to ensure that medical services provided by these
hospitals are able to meet the needs of residents in Kowloon East (including
Tseung Kwan O), the KE Cluster reviews their services from time to time having
regard to the demographic changes and health profile of residents within the
region. Capital works are planned and carried out based on projected service
demand to facilitate the provision of additional facilities and services. In
this connection, the HA has already embarked on drawing up the expansion plans
for TKOH and HHH. The HA will, in accordance with established procedures,
examine these plans together with the detailed arrangements, before submitting
them to the Administration for consideration.
(b) The work on promoting Tseung Kwan O as a "Healthy City" is currently led by
the Healthy City and Community Affairs Committee (the Committee) of the Sai Kung
District Council. The Committee collaborates with various Government
departments, the business sector, non-governmental organisations and local
residents, with a view to improving the health of residents in Tseung Kwan O.
Both the HA and the Department of Health are represented on the Committee. Other
government departments involved in the promotion of Tseung Kwan O as a "Healthy
City" include the Home Affairs Department, the Education and Manpower Bureau,
the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department and the Social Welfare Department.
The priority areas in the Committee's work at present include home safety for
children, healthy development of the youth, healthy schools, elderly health and
home safety, and industrial safety.
The "TKO-Healthy City" Project Office commissioned the Chinese University of
Hong Kong to conduct a community health survey early this year. According to the
findings of that survey, about 67% of the respondents assessed their own health
condition as "Quite Good" or "Very Good". In respect of healthy living habits,
about 37% of the respondents were found to have adequate exercise, while those
who consumed fresh vegetables and fruits three or more days per week accounted
for 95% and 83% of the respondents respectively.
(c) The services of the HA are provided on a cluster basis. Currently, there are
two public hospitals in Tseung Kwan O, namely TKOH and HHH. TKOH is an acute
general hospital with 425 beds, providing in-patient service, 24-hour accident
and emergency service, specialist out-patient service, day wards, rehabilitation
and community services. HHH is a specialist convalescent hospital with 425 beds.
Apart from pulmonary medicine service, geriatric and rehabilitation service, and
palliative (hospice) care in-patient service, the hospital also provides
infirmary service, specialist out-patient service, geriatric outreach and
community care services.
Certain specialist services of the HA are currently centralised in a few
specialist centres. In respect of Tseung Kwan O, the specialist services for
which residents are required to seek attention from hospitals in other districts
mainly include neurosurgery, treatment for major trauma, and specialist services
in oncology, obstetrics, and ear, nose and throat (ENT). We understand that this
will cause some inconvenience to the residents. However, from the medical point
of view, with the concentration of expertise, technology and facilities, the
centralisation of certain specialist services in a few specialist centres will
enable the hospitals to provide higher quality medical services, which is
beneficial to patients. Take the recent re-organisation of ENT specialist
service in the KE Cluster, where the provision of service was further
centralised in UCH earlier this year, as an example. This change has not only
allowed the KE Cluster to increase the number of specialist out-patient
consultation sessions in ENT and reduce the median waiting time for new cases
from 17 to 11 weeks, it has also made the provision of one-stop service
possible, for example, by allowing patients to receive treatment procedures
immediately after consultation instead of having to wait for a follow-up
appointment.
Ends/Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:42
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