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LCQ10: Medical services in Tseung Kwan O
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    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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