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Following is a question by the Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (December 3):
Question:
Regarding the hospice centres under the Hospital Authority (HA), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the types of hospice care services currently provided by various hospice centres;
(b) in respect of each type of hospice care service, the service quota and the respective numbers of patients currently using and waiting for such service;
(c) the respective numbers of allied health professionals and nurses who are providing hospice care services; whether HA has any plan to increase the manpower concerned; if so, of the details of the plan; if not, the reasons for that;
(d) if appropriate training had been provided to such healthcare professionals in the past three years to ensure that they have sufficient knowledge and skills to provide care for terminally-ill patients; if so, of the training details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(e) if any review had been conducted in the past three years on the way forward for the provision of hospice care services at patients' homes to enable them to enjoy a peaceful home life; if so, of the details of the review; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Hospital Authority (HA) has been providing comprehensive palliative care for terminally-ill patients (including cancer patients) through an integrated multi-specialties/disciplinary service approach, with the aim of rendering holistic care to patients. HA also provides psychological counselling and support to patients and their families. At present, there are 10 palliative care centres and six oncology centres under HA to provide palliative/hospice care, which includes in-patient service, out-patient service, hospice/palliative day care service, home care service and bereavement counselling.
(b) Statistical data on the utilisation of the HA's hospice service in 2007-08 are set out in the Annex. As mentioned above, HA is currently providing diversified palliative/hospice care. Doctors of various specialties make referral for patients to receive the most suitable service after assessment of their clinical conditions.
In general, in-patients will be arranged to receive detailed assessment and treatment by doctors of palliative/hospice care department within three days. As for discharged patients, home care nurses will contact the patients and their families to arrange home visits, to assist the patients to effectively manage their pain and other discomforts during their stay at home, and to provide psychological support to patients and their families. Generally, home care nurses will make home visits to patients within three to seven days upon receipt of referral.
(c) Under the existing mode of service provision, palliative/hospice care services are mainly provided by healthcare personnel of the palliative care and oncology department. According to the statistics as at March 31, 2008, in terms of full-time equivalent staff, there were a total of 172.53 nurses and 31.76 allied health professionals serving in HA's palliative care centres. As regards oncology centres, their manpower is subsumed under the overall establishment of the oncology departments, and hence HA does not have the breakdown of manpower of these centres.
Following the established mechanism for overall service planning, HA reviews from time to time the provision of various services and the establishments of various grades in the light of the service demand and manpower turnover and makes adjustments where appropriate.
(d) HA has all along attached great importance to the training of nursing staff and allied health professionals. In order to cope with service demand and facilitate professional development, structured long-term courses on specialist and multi-disciplinary training and on personal development are provided for healthcare professionals through the Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies and the Institute of Advanced Allied Health Studies of HA. Every year, HA invites local and overseas experts to organise training and workshops on hospice care. It also holds seminars, annual conferences and talks on palliative care in conjunction with the Society for the Promotion of Hospice Care, Hong Kong Society of Palliative Medicine and Hong Kong Hospice Nurses' Association, with the aim of enhancing the expertise and professional skills of healthcare and allied health professionals.
(e) At present, the concept of home death is not popular in Hong Kong. HA understands that some terminally-ill patients may wish to stay with their families in a familiar environment until their passing away. HA will respect patients' will and provide support as appropriate to such patients in the light of individual circumstances.
Ends/Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Issued at HKT 11:58
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