Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ11: Kwong Wah Hospital redevelopment project
Following is a question by the Hon James To and a written reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November
16):
Question:
The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals has been striving for the redevelopment of the
Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH) and signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the
redevelopment project with the Hospital Authority (HA) in 2009, but the
redevelopment project has yet to commence. The Chief Executive has also not
mentioned the redevelopment of the hospital in his 2011-2012 Policy Address. As
far as I know, KWH is in urgent need of redevelopment, and also requires regular
building safety inspections and maintenance (including annual inspection and
engagement of overseas consultants to carry out a comprehensive structural
inspection every five years to ensure building safety). In reply to a Member's
question earlier, the Government said that in the redevelopment of hospitals, it
would take into account "the future population growth and ageing in the region,
the demand for healthcare services, the overall provision of healthcare services
in the various clusters under HA, as well as the development of public and
private healthcare services". As KWH cannot be redeveloped in the near future
and the population of Kowloon West continues to grow, will the Government inform
this Council whether it knows:
(a) the respective amounts of expenses (by year) incurred by KWH in the past
five year on the engagement of consultants and maintenance for the two types of
building inspections (annual inspection and five-yearly comprehensive structural
inspection); whether any major structural safety problem has been identified; if
so, of the details; the estimated amount of expense on the comprehensive
structural inspection to be conducted next year;
(b) given that I have learnt that KWH has invited tenders for services of a
consultant relating to the preliminary work of the redevelopment project
(including traffic and heritage assessments), the current progress of the
preliminary work and when it is expected to be completed;
(c) given that when briefing this Council on the proposed redevelopment of
Caritas Medical Centre (CMC) in 2007, the Government indicated that as CMC had
been in use for more than 40 years, its facilities were inadequate and outdated,
and the population in the region was ageing, it was in urgent need of
redevelopment, and as KWH is facing similar problems, whether the Government has
made any relevant assessment of KWH (including the current utilisation rates and
waiting times for various services and the impact of a growing elderly
population in the region on the demand for medical services);
(d) given that the Government indicated in its reply to my earlier inquiry that
the facilities of KWH had failed to adequately meet the modern operation needs
and the increasing demand of the community for medical services, when the
Government expects to seek funds from this Council to kick off the redevelopment
of KWH; whether the Government has assessed the redevelopment costs; if so, of
the amount involved; what measures it will adopt prior to the completion of the
KWH redevelopment project to compensate for the current inadequate services in
KWH; and
(e) what measures the Government will put in place to improve the overall
hospital services in Kowloon West, apart from the soon-to-be-completed
redevelopment project of CMC and the plan to develop the Centre of Excellence in
Paediatrics in Kai Tak Development Area?
Reply:
President,
(a) Kwong Wah Hospital (KWH) would conduct annual review on the conditions of
the hospital structure and facilities every year and carry out various minor
maintenance and improvements works based on the review results. Currently, the
annual expenditure on minor maintenance works for the 41 public hospitals under
Hospital Authority (HA) is about $310 million, of which about $18 million is for
works in respect of KWH. Besides, KWH would commission a professional
architectural consultancy firm through open tender to conduct a comprehensive
inspection every four to five years. When the last comprehensive inspection was
completed in late 2008, the report generally indicated that there was no
structural problem. The next major structural check will commence next year. The
expenditure incurred by such check can only be confirmed after the tendering
exercise has been completed.
(b) The Traffic Impact Assessment and the Heritage Impact Assessment conducted
for the KWH redevelopment project are underway and will be completed in early
2012. Other preliminary work including preparation of the Schedule of
Accommodation and the Functional Brief has also commenced and is expected to be
completed within 2012.
(c) Given that most of the buildings of KWH are over 50 years old, HA has
earlier submitted a proposal on the KWH redevelopment project to the Government
for consideration. It has also conducted various preliminary preparatory work,
including preparation of the "Project Definition Statement", "Clinical Service
Plan", "Master Development Plan" and "Technical Feasibility Statement", etc. In
the planning process, the Administration has taken into consideration a number
of factors, such as the projected demand for healthcare services having regard
to population growth and demographic changes in the district, the utilisation
and estimated growth rate of services of individual specialties, and the
possible changes in healthcare services utilisation pattern, etc.
In 2010-11, the bed occupancy rate in KWH was 71%, and the median waiting time
for first appointment at its specialist out-patient clinics was 10 weeks. HA
will regularly monitor the utilisation rate and trend of demand for various
healthcare services and ensure that the services can meet public demand through
continued restructuring of service delivery mode of hospitals, hospital
development projects and implementation of other suitable measures.
(d) The Government will process the funding application for redevelopment of KWH
in accordance with the established procedures to facilitate an early
commencement of the project. According to the preliminary estimate, the entire
redevelopment project will cost over $8 billion. We will make a more detailed
estimate before seeking funding approval. KWH will maintain a series of
maintenance and repair measures before implementation of the redevelopment
project. It will also make service adjustments having regard to the utilisation
of and demand for its services, so as to ensure that it can provide safe and
appropriate healthcare services to the patients.
(e) To meet the increasing service needs and shorten the waiting time in the
West Kowloon district, HA will strengthen its inpatient and integrated care
services, including providing additional Haemodialysis places for renal
patients, and extending the service hours of emergent coronary artery
catheterisation surgery, etc. Furthermore, to enhance service quality, HA will
optimise the thoracic, rheumatic, ophthalmic and prenatal care services and
implement a series of integrated care service programmes, such as the integrated
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease management programme, the integrated care
services for elderly patients and the integrated mental health programme, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Issued at HKT 12:20
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