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LCQ1: Elderly health centre services
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    Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Anson Chan and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 5):

Question:

    The 18 elderly health centres (EHCs) under the Department of Health currently provide such services as physical check up, health education, etc. for their elderly members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a)  of the current number of elderly people aged 65 or above, together with a breakdown by districts;

(b)  in respect of each EHC, of the number of elderly people serviced and their total attendances last year, the current number of persons waiting for enrolment as members and their average waiting time, as well as the resources and manpower allocated to the EHC each year; and

(c)  given that the population continues to age, whether it will increase or redistribute the resources allocated to EHCs, including manpower and supporting facilities, and increase the quota for the relevant services; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

Madam President,

    The Government has attached importance to the health of the elders and has strived to enhance their health and capability for self-care through various health care services, health education and outreaching services.

(a)  According to the statistical data provided by the Census and Statistics Department in 2007, there were about 870 000 elders aged 65 or above in Hong Kong. The number of elders by districts are detailed in Annex I.

(b)  Since 1999, the Department of Health (DH) has established one elderly health centre (EHC) in each of the 18 districts over the territory to provide comprehensive primary health care services to senior citizens. Each EHC is manned by seven staff members on average, including one doctor and three nurses. About $4.9 million are allocated to each EHC per year. Services provided by the EHCs include health assessment, physical check-up, counselling, health education and general out-patient service. At present, the 18 EHCs offer a total of some 38 000 memberships each year. In 2007, the EHCs handled about 182 000 attendances for health assessments and treatment.

    As old members would usually renew their membership, the annual membership turnover of the EHCs is not high and new memberships are limited. Currently, there are about 23 000 elders awaiting enrolment as EHC member. In 2007, the average waiting time was 38.3 months.

(c)  The services of the EHCs are heavily subsidised by the Government and fee waivers are available to recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance and those who have financial hardship. This and the ageing population lead to an ever increasing demand for primary health care services for elders. It is not possible to meet the health care needs of all the elders through the 18 EHCs alone. The provision of highly subsidised primary health care services by EHCs is also not the most cost-effective and sustainable way to deliver services to elders. Given this, the Government at present has no plan to increase the membership size and manpower of the EHCs.

    Indeed, EHCs are not the only providers of primary health care services for elders. The DH, Hospital Authority (HA), community service organisations and private health care providers also provide similar services. As regards out-patient services, the HA provides general medical services for the public, including the elders, through over 70 general out-patient clinics. The elders can also receive health care services offered by non-government organisations (NGOs) which are reasonably priced. As regards health education, free health talks and other health education activities for elders and their carers are organised by the 18 visiting health teams of the DH in collaboration with the elderly centres operated by NGOs. In addition, the DH produces health educational kits for self-learning by elders and for use by other elderly service centres, so as to further promote health education and disease prevention.

    To encourage elders to make better use of primary care services close to their homes so that they can have easier access to health care and continuity of care provided by their chosen health care providers, the Government will put in place a pilot scheme to provide health care vouchers for the elderly. The objectives of the scheme are to implement the "money follows patient" concept on a trial basis by providing the elders with partial subsidy for choosing private health care services and to further strengthen public awareness on health maintenance and appropriate use of health care resources through promoting the concept of shared responsibility for health care.

Ends/Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 13:22

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