Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ17: Primary care services of Community Health Centres
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Pierre Chan and a written reply by the
Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative
Council today (January 11):
Question:
Regarding the primary care services provided by the Community Health Centres
(CHCs) under the Hospital Authority (HA), will the Government inform this
Council:
(1) whether it knows, since the three CHCs in Tin Shui Wai, North Lantau and
Kwun Tung commenced operation, (i) the respective amounts of funding they
received each year, (ii) the respective numbers of doctors, nurses, allied
health professionals and staff of other grades (with a breakdown by rank)
stationed there each year; and (iii) the respective numbers of consultation
slots for general out-patient (GOP) services provided by them at different time
sessions (i.e. the daytime and evening sessions from Mondays to Saturdays, and
on Sundays and public holidays) in each season and their utilisation rates (set
out such figures in a table);
(2) whether it knows how the various figures of the CHCs mentioned in (1)
(except the North Lantau CHC) compare with the corresponding figures of the
general out-patient clinics (GOPCs) under HA in Yuen Long District and Kwun Tong
District for the same period;
(3) as quite a number of residents living in the vicinity of the three CHCs
mentioned in (1) have indicated that they are unaware of (i) the existence of a
CHC in the district, and (ii) the difference between the GOP services provided
by such CHCs and those provided by GOPCs under HA, whether it knows (i) the
expenditure incurred by HA in the past three years for publicising those three
CHCs, and (ii) if HA has assessed the effectiveness of the related publicity
work; if HA has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; whether it knows
the details of the publicity materials produced by HA in print and electronic
versions for publicising those three CHCs; and
(4) of the long-term policy objectives set by the authorities in respect of the
positioning of CHCs in primary care services; given that the Government
mentioned in last year's Budget that CHCs would be set up in Mongkok, Shek Kip
Mei and North District, of the current progress of those three projects; whether
it has plans to set up CHCs in other districts?
Reply:
President,
One of the Government's policy initiatives to enhance primary care is to explore
a new primary care service model; that is, to co-ordinate various service
providers in the provision of primary care services under the concept of
Community Health Centres (CHCs).
My reply to the questions raised by Dr Hon Pierre Chan is as follows:
(1) and (2) To facilitate implementation of the said policy initiative to
enhance primary care, the Hospital Authority (HA) has set up CHCs in Tin Shui
Wai North, North Lantau and Kwun Tong. The Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) CHC, the
first of its kind to be designed based on the primary care development strategy
and service model, commenced service in mid-2012. The CHCs in North Lantau and
Kwun Tong started operation in September 2013 and March 2015 respectively.
The CHCs of the HA provide integrated multi-disciplinary healthcare services
through medical, nursing and allied health services, so as to enable patients to
lead a healthy life in the community with strengthened community support and to
reduce their need for hospitalisation. The services offered by the CHCs include
medical consultation services, and health risk assessment and specific care
services provided by multi-disciplinary teams for chronic patients with diseases
such as diabetes, hypertension, etc., with a view to reduce the risk of
complications and need for consultations for chronic patients. Healthcare
professionals of the CHCs also provide other services such as wound care, fall
risk assessment and management, smoking cessation counselling and dietetic
advice. Patient empowerment services and facilities are available at the CHCs as
well to encourage patients to strengthen their ability in disease management by
making use of community resources.
The integrated multi-disciplinary healthcare services of the CHCs involve staff
from different disciplines, such as doctors, nurses, dietitians, dispensers,
optometrists, podiatrists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, social workers,
clinical psychologists, occupational therapists, executive officers, technical
services assistants, general service assistants, etc. As the service provision
of CHCs involves cross-programme activities undertaken by different
multi-disciplinary teams within their respective clusters, and involves multiple
service sites, the breakdown of staff and estimated expenditure of individual
CHCs cannot be separately identified.
Generally speaking, general out-patient clinics (GOP clinics) and CHCs in the
same district will complement each other in terms of service capacity and scope
of service. To make medical consultation services more readily accessible to
patients, the consultation quotas of GOP clinics and CHCs in close proximity in
the same district are pooled together to facilitate the provision of primary
care services in that district. The service capacity of each GOP clinic or CHC
may vary owing to differences in clinical space and manning level. It is
therefore not possible to make a direct comparison between them. Local residents
have made full use of the services provided by the three CHCs since they started
operation. The attendances for the Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) CHC, North Lantau
CHC and Kwun Tong CHC from 2013-14 to 2015-16 are as follows:
2013-14 | 2014-15 | 2015-16 | |
Tin Shui Wai (Tin Yip Road) CHC |
71 124 | 75 448 | 82 431 |
North Lantau CHC | 29 580 (Commenced service in September 2013) |
59 774 | 64 826 |
Kwun Tong CHC | - | 5 336 (Commenced service in March 2015) |
235 505 |
Note: The attendances include those for medical consultation, nurse clinics in general out-patient setting and primary care services in related healthcare reform initiative programmes.
(3) The HA has been promoting the three CHCs and their services through various channels. The District Councils concerned were consulted at the construction and planning stages of the CHCs to keep the community informed of the progress and collect views from community partners and local residents. When the three CHCs started operation, publicity was launched by HA at the district level, including producing pamphlets, distributing leaflets, displaying posters, notices and banners, and inviting District Councillors to conduct site inspection and share their views, so as to enable the local community to learn more about the CHCs' services.
For general publicity, the HA issued press releases to announce the completion and commissioning of the CHCs and invited media visits and coverage. Moreover, feature articles about the services of the three CHCs were published by the Primary Care Office in its publication Primary Care Link which is made available to primary care stakeholders and the public on the Primary Care Office's website and widely distributed to various districts. Online information and recorded voice messages about the new CHCs are also added to the website of the HA and the GOPCs Telephone Appointment System respectively.
(4) The Government is working on a number of CHC pilot schemes to offer the public one-stop primary care services in a more holistic manner, which include setting up CHCs in Mong Kok, Shek Kip Mei and North District. Feasibility studies and preliminary planning for these projects have been completed. The Food and Health Bureau is making arrangement for the required works and funding according to the internal resource allocation mechanism. Upon confirmation of the projected development timeframe and detailed project information, we will seek the views of the districts concerned in due course.
We are also exploring the feasibility of implementing CHC projects in other districts and will identify the scope of service and mode of operation which can best meet local needs. The Government will continue to work with healthcare professionals and service providers from the public and private sectors, non-governmental organisations and universities to explore models for different types of CHCs.
Ends/Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Issued at HKT 16:34
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