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LCQ5: Promotional practices of private residential care homes for the elderly
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     Following is a question by Dr Hon Joseph Lee Kok-long and an oral reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (May 6):

Question:

     It has been reported that some private residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) advertise that they will apply, on behalf of elderly residents, for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) free of charge, which may mislead the public into thinking that applications for CSSA will definitely be successful with the assistance of the RCHEs concerned, or that the payment of a fee is originally required for CSSA applications.  Regarding the means of publicity used by private healthcare institutions and RCHEs, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the respective numbers of complaints received by the Consumer Council, Social Welfare Department and other relevant government departments in each of the past five years involving the use of exaggerated and faulty means of publicity by private healthcare institutions and RCHEs;

(b) whether at present, there are guidelines or codes regulating the means of publicity used by private healthcare institutions and RCHEs as well as the contents of such publicity, so as to prevent the public from being misled; if there are, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) whether the Government will review and amend the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance to strengthen the regulation of the means of publicity used by RCHEs; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     I will reply to the three parts of Dr Hon Joseph Lee Kok-long's question individually.

(a) In respect of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs), the Social Welfare Department (SWD) received a total of three complaints about the promotional practices of private RCHEs in the past five years.  Two of the complaints involved the provision of deceptive promotional information by the RCHEs which misled the public to believe that the two RCHEs were respectively run by a non-governmental organisation and participating in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme.  The remaining complaint involved an RCHE which used the wording "government-registered" in its promotional materials while its application for RCHE licence by SWD was still being processed.  On learning about such cases, SWD had immediately conducted investigation and examined the promotional materials of the concerned RCHEs to ensure the authenticity of the contents of the materials.  On SWD's advice, the concerned RCHEs had immediately corrected or deleted from the promotional materials the information that was not entirely factual or was inaccurate so as to avoid misleading the public.  Besides, the Consumer Council has not received any complaints against the use of misleading representation by RCHEs in the past five years.

     As regards private health care institutions registered under the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance, the Department of Health (DH) and the Consumer Council have not received any complaints against the use of misleading representation by these institutions in the past five years.

(b) Generally speaking, SWD does not intervene in the normal business operation of RCHEs, including their promotional and publicity activities.  Nevertheless, the Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) (the CoP for RCHEs) compiled in accordance with the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance stipulated that RCHEs should explain clearly their rules (including home fee and other charges) upon admission of elders.  Fees that are refundable to residents on leaving the RCHEs should also be stated clearly.  If an RCHE is found in breach of the relevant rules stipulated in the CoP for RCHEs, SWD will issue advice or warning letter to the concerned RCHE based on the severity of the case, and request it to take remedial or improvement actions.  For RCHEs engaging in unscrupulous promotional or business practices, the Director of Social Welfare (DSW) may issue remedial directions under Section 19 of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance.  SWD may consider prosecution if the RCHEs fail to comply with the directions within the specified period.

     To enhance the transparency of information on RCHEs, SWD has uploaded information of all RCHEs onto its website to enhance the knowledge of service users and the public.  The uploaded information includes the name, address, types and number of places, licence period and licensing conditions of all licensed RCHEs, letters issued by SWD to RCHEs and RCHEs that were successfully prosecuted.  In addition, SWD has compiled a pamphlet entitled "Tips to Select a Suitable RCHE" which lists out the key points to note when choosing RCHEs.

     Regarding private health care institutions registered under the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance, they should comply with the Code of Practice for Private Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes (the Code) issued by DH.  The Code sets out the standards of good practices for private health care institutions to adopt in order to provide quality care for patients.  Compliance with the requirements under the Code is a condition for the registration and re-registration of private health care institutions.  These requirements include the need for a private health care institution to state the nature and purpose of its work, and to ensure that services provided are of quality and appropriate to the needs of patients, protection of the rights of patients and their right to know, preparation of a schedule of charges available for reference at the admission office, setting out charges with respect to each item, and establishing a mechanism for handling complaints, etc.  These requirements aim to protect patients from being affected by unscrupulous business practices or operations.

     In addition, the Code of Professional Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners issued by the Hong Kong Medical Council also states that doctors who have established any kind of financial or professional relationship with private health care organisations (including those who use the facilities of or accept patients referred by such organisations) must exercise due diligence to ensure that the concerned organisations do not advertise in contravention of the principles and rules applicable to individual doctors.

(c) The Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance was fully implemented in June 1996, under which RCHEs are monitored through the licensing system managed by DSW to ensure that their services are up to a satisfactory level.  It is specified in both the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation and the CoP for RCHEs that RCHEs should attain a certain standard before they will be issued with licences for operation.  The standard covers various aspects, including the area of floor space for each resident, location and design of RCHEs, safety and fire precaution measures, staffing, management, health and care services, nutrition and diet, cleanliness and sanitation facilities, and provision of social and recreational services, etc.

     Under Section 22 of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance, DSW may issue from time to time codes of practice setting out principles, procedures, guidelines and standards for the operation, keeping or management of RCHEs.  Since the enactment of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance, SWD has now and again issued guidelines on individual topics for RCHEs to follow and updated the CoP for RCHEs with a view to providing better protection for elderly residents in RCHEs.

     The inspectors of SWD's Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (LORCHE) conduct inspections on RCHEs.  The number of inspections (including regular and unannounced inspections) on each RCHE is on average seven times a year.  The purpose of inspecting RCHEs is to monitor the quality of their services and to provide advice to the operators so as to assist and urge them to improve services, thereby ensuring the RCHEs' compliance with the requirements.  As regards the promotional practices of RCHEs, LORCHE will, during inspections, pay attention to information provided by the RCHEs, and check whether the information is accurate and fully reflects the reality with a view to protecting the service users.

Ends/Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:00

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