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Following is a question by the Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (December 5):
Question:
The Government is planning to implement a pilot project in Tin Shui Wai North under which the Hospital Authority (HA) will identify a selected group of chronic patients who have a history of using the general out-patient clinic service on a regular basis and whose conditions are stable, and offer them the choice of receiving medical care from local private doctors participating in the project. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it will draw up eligibility criteria for participation in the project by private doctors and patients;
(b) of the respective projected numbers of doctors and patients participating in the project and expenditure required each year, and whether it will provide HA with additional funding for the project;
(c) of the measures for encouraging doctors and patients to participate in the project; and
(d) of the projected time for implementing and reviewing the project, as well as the Government's considerations in deciding whether or not to extend the project to other districts (e.g. Tin Shui Wai South and New Territories East).
Reply:
Madam President,
At present, public general out-patient service in Tin Shui Wai is mainly provided by the Tin Shui Wai General Out-patient Clinic (GOPC) at Tin Shui Wai South. To cater for the increase in local population and service demand, the Administration has planned to build a GOPC at Tin Shui Wai North. The Administration and the Hospital Authority (HA) have been exploring ways to enhance the existing general out-patient service in Tin Shui Wai before the completion of the new clinic. As mentioned in this year's Policy Agenda, the HA plans to conduct a pilot project to purchase primary care services from the private sector in Tin Shui Wai North for certain patient groups to enhance the existing provision of public general out-patient services and explore the feasibility of public-private partnership. The HA is drawing up the pilot scheme and consulting local private doctors, and the details of the pilot scheme have yet to be finalised.
My replies to each part of the questions are as follows:
(a) At present, the HA's initial idea is that patients residing in Tin Shui Wai North who are suffering from specific chronic illnesses (such as hypertension, diabetes, etc.) in need of long-term follow-up treatment at the GOPC in Tin Shui Wai and whose conditions are stable would be offered the choice to participate in the pilot project on a voluntary basis. These patients may seek medical treatment from registered doctors practising in Tin Shui Wai participating in the pilot project for treatment of their chronic conditions and episodic illnesses.
(b) As the details of the pilot project are still being worked out by the HA and participation in the project is on a voluntary basis, the HA is unable to estimate the numbers of participating doctors and patients as well as the budget of the project at this stage. To support the project, the HA will allocate additional funding to its New Territories West Cluster, which is tasked to take forward the project.
(c) Under the pilot project, patients are offered the choice to receive continuous care from nearby private doctors and are only required to pay the same fee as in public GOPC (CSSA recipients will be granted a fee waiver in full) with the HA's subsidy. We believe that this project will probably be attractive to both local patients and private doctors. The HA will consult local private doctors when working out the details of the pilot project. It will also develop measures to promote and publicise the project, brief patients on the project, provide them with information, and provide local participating private doctors with support.
(d) Subject to the views collected by the HA in the consultation exercise and the success of reaching agreement with local private doctors on the service and contract terms, our target is to implement the pilot project in mid-2008. The HA plans to conduct an interim review and an overall review six months and one year after the implementation of the project respectively in order to assess its effectiveness, including the cost-effectiveness of providing general out-patient service through public-private partnership. Subject to the findings of the reviews, the Administration will examine the long-term policy on provision of general out-patient service through public-private partnership.
Ends/Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Issued at HKT 12:53
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