**********************************************************
Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 5):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether:
(a) it knows, in the past three years, the respective numbers of non-residents of Hong Kong using the in-patient services of the private hospitals and public hospitals in Hong Kong as well as their total bed-days; whether it has assessed if the use of the medical services in Hong Kong by such people has affected the demand for health care manpower in both the private and public sectors in Hong Kong and the use of such services (including the waiting time and charges) by Hong Kong residents; if it has, of the detailed figures concerned; and whether it will consider commissioning academic institutions to conduct an in-depth study and assessment on the issue; and
(b) it has assessed the trend in the use of medical services in Hong Kong by non-residents of Hong Kong in the next five years and its impact on the demand for health care manpower, and whether it will therefore be necessary to train more health care personnel?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) and (b) The number of discharges and deaths of Non-Eligible Persons (NEPs) in-patients and day patients and the number of bed-days utilised by NEPs in public hospitals, as well as the number of admissions and bed-days for in-patient services utilised by non-Hong Kong residents in some private hospitals in the past three years are set out in the Annex I.
Our public health care system is established primarily for the benefits of Hong Kong residents. At present, eligibility for heavily subsidised health care services is restricted to holders of Hong Kong Identity Card or children under 11 years of age who are Hong Kong residents. NEPs who wish to use public health care services are required to pay charges applicable to NEPs. In each of the past three years (i.e. 2004/05, 2005/06 and 2006/07), the total number of bed-days utilised by NEPs in public hospitals only accounts for about 0.6% of the total number of bed-days utilised by all patients.
Among the bed-days utilised by NEPs in public hospitals, about two-third of them were for obstetric services. On utlisation of public obstetric services by NEPs, HA has implemented new obstetric services arrangements for NEPs since February 1, 2007. The new arrangements include the setting up of a booking system in public hospitals for the use of obstetric services and the increase of the obstetric service package charge for NEPs. HA has also strengthened the manpower and facilities for obstetric services in public hospitals. Since the implementation of the new arrangements, for the period from February to December 2007, the number of deliveries by non-local women in public hospitals has dropped by 29.4% when compared with the same period in 2006; whereas the number of deliveries by local women in public hospitals has increased by 8.6% with reference to the same period. The statistics indicate that the new arrangements can effectively ensure that local pregnant women will be given priority in receiving services in public hospitals and have limited the number of births by non-local women in Hong Kong to a level that can be supported by our health care system.
Private hospitals serve both Hong Kong residents and non-Hong Kong residents and they provide services mainly according to market demand and supply. In general, private hospitals will provide services to Hong Kong residents and non-Hong Kong residents on a first-come-first-served basis. According to the information provided by some private hospitals, in the past three years, the vast majority of in-patient services of private hospitals are utilised by Hong Kong residents.
As regards the manpower demand on health care manpower, the Government has all along closely monitored the trend of supply and demand for health care professionals and conducted corresponding manpower planning to maintain the quality of health care services and facilitate the healthy development of our health care system. We will make projections on the future manpower demand on a regular basis in the light of changes in demographic profiles, service demand and medical technologies as well as development of our health care system, etc. The Government will from time to time collect information on manpower demand from various government departments or organisations, including the Department of Health, the Hospital Authority, the Social Welfare Department and private hospitals, for assessment of the future demand for health care personnel and formulation of corresponding planning.
Ends/Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 12:36
NNNN
