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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, to a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung in the Legislative Council today (May 13):
Question:
In reply to my question on April 1, 2009 concerning subsidised care and attention ("C&A") places for the elderly, the Secretary for Labour and Welfare indicated that the Social Welfare Department "does not separately record the waiting time for individual residential care homes for the elderly. The waiting time...... varies under different circumstances". In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it has used any means to enable the elderly people who are waiting for such places and their family members to know the circumstances that will affect their waiting time; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) whether it has adopted the simplest and most direct way to enable such elderly people and their family members to readily enquire about their position on the waiting list and estimate the duration for which they still have to wait, as well as to enable those elderly people who are waiting for admission to specific homes and their family members to enquire about such information; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) of the date when it last reviewed the mechanism and way of releasing information on the "waiting list for residential care services", the "waiting time for residential care services" and the "turn for placement offer for cases applying for residential care services"; whether it has provided channels for the public to express their opinions on the mechanism and way of releasing such information, and how it enabled them to know such channels?
Reply:
President,
My consolidated reply to Hon Leung Kwok-hung's question is as follows:
At present, all waiting cases for subsidised residential care places are centrally managed under the Social Welfare Department (SWD)'s Long Term Care Services Delivery System (Delivery System). The Delivery System allocates services mainly on the basis of the order of the applicant's "date of application' (ie the date on which the applicant's service need is confirmed under the Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services). Besides, the Delivery System also takes into account the applicant's specific preference(s) for residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs), including the districts in which RCHEs are located, the religious background of and/or the types of diet provided by RCHEs, in service matching.
The waiting time for subsidised residential care places varies under different circumstances. Factors such as applicants' specific preferences for RCHEs, the number of residential care places in individual RCHEs that are made available through natural wastage, the number of elders choosing to wait for specific RCHEs, or RCHEs in individual districts, during the same period, and even the genders of waiting elders will all affect the waiting time. Besides, applicants may change their preferences during the waiting period, which will also affect the waiting time. As these factors are beyond the Government's control, it is difficult for SWD to estimate accurately the waiting time for individual cases. Nevertheless, applicants or their family members can contact the social workers responsible for their cases at anytime if they have questions on their positions on the waiting list or the waiting time required. The social workers concerned will endeavour to provide the relevant information for their reference.
As regards information dissemination, SWD currently releases, through its website, information on the total number of applicants waiting for admission to subsidised residential care places, the average waiting time for these places and the "date of application" of the elder most recently allocated with a subsidised residential care place. The information is released on a regular basis for reference by applicants and the public. Suggestion boxes are also available at SWD's district offices for collecting public feedback. SWD also welcomes members of the public to express their opinion, including views on the mechanism and way of releasing information, through such channels as telephone or email.
Ends/Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:30
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