Speeches

Spring Reception with Clinical Partners of the
School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong
Speech by Prof Sophia Chan Secretary for Food and Health
19 March 2018

Professor (Gabriel) LEUNG (Dean, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine),
Professor (Chia-chin) LIN (Head, School of Nursing),
distinguished guests,friends, ladies and gentlemen,

 

1. I am most delighted to be invited again this year to join the Spring Reception of The University of Hong Kong (“HKU”) School of Nursing. On this occasion, may I wish you all another year of health and prosperity.
2. Over the years, Hong Kong has developed a highly efficient healthcare system and achieved impressive health outcome for its population. Thanks to the diligence, competence and dedication of our healthcare professionals and the concrete efforts from their supporting organisations and partners, together, we have made commendable strides on nearly all fronts of healthcare, and climbed to the top of the world league table of longevity. These are remarkable achievements, but, as our society ages and with rising expectations for healthcare services, we must refine our healthcare policies and delivery models, as well as review the roles and scopes of practice of individual healthcare professions in order to keep pace with the ever-evolving healthcare landscape.
3. The Government endeavors to ensure the quality and efficiency of our healthcare services by devoting efforts and allocating resources in an efficient and focused manner. In the coming years, we will actively promote primary health care and community care. Besides expediting the 10-year Hospital Development plan, we shall strengthen healthcare manpower and advocate cross-sector and multidisciplinary collaboration which engages the healthcare, social welfare and education sectors. We will also proactively support the development of Chinese medicine and promote advancements in medical technology for better outcomes to our citizens’ health.
4. To fully capitalise on the benefit of a multidisciplinary patient-centred service delivery model, we need to ensure that our healthcare manpower development framework delivers the appropriate number of adequately trained practitioners in various disciplines and that there is a prudent system of professional governance for these disciplines. Nurses, who are the backbone of our healthcare system and the collaborator of the multidisciplinary holistic care team, will surely be our focus.
5. The Government recognises the pivotal role played by nurses in revitalising healthcare systems through advanced nursing practice and enhanced clinical specialties. Specialisation in nursing is an important milestone in the professionalisation of the nursing profession. I am very happy to see that we are making progress on specialisation of nursing practice vide the task force set up by the Food and Health Bureau to map out the way forward with the ultimate goal of putting in place a legal framework on nursing specialisation in the long run. This will certainly benefit our healthcare system with more skilled and experienced nurses to serve our patients in different areas.
6. A well-trained nursing workforce with dynamic and sophisticated educational institutions and clinical partners are instrumental to the success and evolution of our healthcare system. I am delighted to see the support and contribution of the HKU School of Nursing, not only in teaching and research, but also in its service to the community through knowledge exchange activities, which enables academics, members of the nursing profession and students alike to channel their expertise and learning into supporting health improvement initiatives and the nursing profession for the benefit of the whole community. I would also like to thank all the clinical partners for allowing our students to benefit from a holistic learning experience as they move from classroom-based learning in the schools to clinical training in the hospitals, and further on to the real world that interacts with various stakeholders in healthcare. I shall continue to count on this strong partnership between our education regime and healthcare institutions in scaling the Hong Kong nursing services to new heights.
7. I wish you all a joyful gathering this afternoon.
8. Thank you and all the best in the Year of the Dog!