Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ2: Psychiatric specialist out-patient service
Following is a question by Dr Hon Joseph Lee and a reply by the Secretary for
Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May
25):
Question :
It has been reported that the median waiting time for psychiatric specialist
out-patient service in public hospitals has increased from three weeks in the
year 2000-01 to five weeks in 2004-05, which is the longest waiting time among
those for various specialist out-patient services. Moreover, the average length
of stay of psychiatric in-patients was 105 days, the highest among all
specialist consultation units. In this connection, will the Government inform
this Council if it knows:
(a) the respective average waiting time for the new and old cases for
psychiatric specialist out-patient service in public hospitals for each of the
past five years; whether new and old cases, and cases in various conditions are
placed on separate waiting lists; whether the Hospital Authority (HA) has
reviewed the ways to shorten the relevant waiting times; if so, of the review
results;
(b) the respective numbers of the new and old cases for psychiatric specialist
out-patient service in hospitals of each hospital cluster as well as the number
of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, in each of the past five years; and
(c) whether HA has assessed by how much the average length of stay of
psychiatric in-patients can be shortened upon execution of its plan to transfer
approximately 200 long-stay patients in psychiatric hospitals to a newly
commissioned long-stay care home?
Reply :
Madam President,
(a) The median waiting times for first appointment at a psychiatric specialist
out-patient clinic (SOPC) in public hospitals for each of the past five years
are given in
Annex A.
The Hospital Authority (HA) has put into place a standardised triage mechanism
in all psychiatric SOPCs. Under this mechanism, patients are assessed in
accordance with established criteria and those assessed with urgent clinical
needs will be given an earlier appointment. In the first quarter of 2005, the
median waiting time for patients in urgent need of specialist psychiatric care
is less than one week.
There is no waiting time for follow-up consultations as such because the date of
follow-up consultations is set in accordance with the clinician's assessment of
the medical needs of the patients. In general, psychiatric patients are given 3
to 4 follow-up consultations a year.
(b) The respective numbers of first and follow-up consultations at psychiatric
SOPCs in public hospitals, and the numbers of psychiatrists and psychiatric
nurses, by cluster for the past five years are given in
Annex B and
Annex C.
(c) Generally speaking, the average length of stay (ALOS) of inpatients is
calculated from the length of time spent in public hospitals by those patients
who left (including discharges, deaths and transfers) the hospitals in that
year. Patients yet to be discharged (e.g. long stay patients) would not be
captured by the calculation.
Most of the 200 patients to be transferred to the new long stay care home are
long stay patients, who have been hospitalised for more than 4 years. As these
patients are expected to be discharged in 2005-06, the HA will be required to
include them in the calculation of the ALOS for patients with mental illness for
that year. Therefore, the HA is anticipating that the ALOS for patients with
mental illness will increase substantially in 2005-06, as compared with previous
years.
Ends/Wednesday, May 25, 2005
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