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LCQ9: Renovation and improvement works of Hospital Authority
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     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 (February 3):

Question:

     It has been reported that the Hospital Authority (HA) sought funding of over $10 million from the Food and Health Bureau last year for renovating the Conference Hall in the HA Building, and HA indicated that as the works was an internal administrative matter, the details would not be made public.  It has also been reported that Tuen Mun Hospital had spent around $1 million on renovating a conference room.  Regarding monitoring internally by HA and by the Executive Authorities of the improvement works carried out in the premises under HA and its hospitals, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the total number of renovation and improvement works projects carried out in the hospitals under HA in each of the past three years, and the percentage of those involving facilities which will be used directly by patients;

(b) whether it knows the hospital, premises, works items, reasons for carrying out the project and the amount of/estimated expenditure involved in each of the improvement works projects carried out or completed last year and those which have been approved but not yet commenced, as well as the name(s) of the committee(s) or post title(s) of the staff concerned which/who gave approval;

(c) whether it knows if prior approval of the HA Board had been obtained for the aforesaid renovation works for the Conference Hall of the HA Building; and the mechanism for approving expenditure at different levels of HA (including the HA Head Office, cluster and hospital levels); and if there are any express requirement that the management must obtain approval from the authorities concerned (including the HA Board) for expenditures exceeding a certain amount; if so, of the details; and

(d) whether the Audit Department plans to conduct an audit review on the decision-making processes as well as the autonomy and accountability of the management in the allocation and use of funds by HA and its hospitals; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     Public hospitals under the Hospital Authority (HA) are busy areas with a high pedestrian flow.  To ensure that medical services are provided in a safe and secure environment, HA carries out regular maintenance as well as renovation and improvement projects of various kinds for its public hospitals.  HA is one of the organisations that receives non-recurrent subvention under block vote subheads under Capital Works Reserve Fund Head 708.  Under the present arrangement, HA can seek funds under Block Allocation Subhead 8100MX under Head 708 for carrying out minor works and preparatory work on major projects costing not more than $21 million each.  Works funded under the Subhead include improvement and investigation works, preliminary feasibility study of projects and design work of building projects of various hospitals under HA.  In 2009-10 financial year, HA has been allocated a funding of $600 million under the Subhead by the Financial Committee.

     Currently, hospitals may propose minor works projects costing not more than $21 million each in light of the conditions of their facilities and their operational needs.  Such project proposals will be submitted to the respective hospital clusters for coordination after consultation and discussion by the relevant committees (such as the Hospital Governing Committee).  The hospital clusters will then consider all such project proposals from their respective hospitals, set their priorities and submit them to the HA Head Office for review of the project proposals and project estimates.  Projects recommended by HA Head Office will then be submitted to the Food and Health Bureau for approval.  All approved projects are carried out by HA's contractors and consultant surveyors under the supervision by HA's professional staff.  The contractors and consultant surveyors are engaged through open tender under HA's established tender mechanism.

     My reply to various parts of the question is as follows:

(a) A total of over 300 items of renovation and improvement works on average were carried out in the hospitals under HA in each of the past three years.  Among them, more than 80% were carried out on sites which would be used directly by patients, and less than 20% of the remaining projects involved waterproofing to roof, slope maintenance, repair of underground water main and refurbishment of staff quarters and offices, etc.

(b) There are a total of over 900 items of renovation and improvement works costing not more than $21 million each in HA hospitals in 2009/10 financial year as set out by project category in Annex.

(c) In general, approval from the HA Board is not required for maintenance and improvement works costing not more than $21 million each.  Nevertheless, as a recent renovation project is to be carried out at the Conference Hall in the HA Building where the HA Board Meetings are usually held, the project was submitted to the HA Board for consideration.  On November 19, 2009, the HA Board endorsed after discussion the renovation project to be carried out at the Conference Hall at an estimated cost of $11 million.  The renovation of the Conference Hall in the HA Building on this occasion is proposed mainly having regard to the fact that the HA Building has been in use for more than 10 years since its completion in 1997 and its design, layout and size no longer meet the current needs.  Under the renovation project, the Conference Hall will be converted into one of a smaller size and two meeting rooms for effective utilisation of the meeting facilities.  Besides, the multiple-floor-level design of the existing Conference Hall has caused inconvenience to meeting attendees and public audience and does not facilitate accessibility of disabled persons.  The renovation project therefore includes removal of the multiple-floor-level design of the Conference Hall to reduce the potential hazard to the attendees of the meetings as well as facilitating the attendance of disabled persons at the meetings.  Also included in the renovation project are replacement of the public address and simultaneous interpretation system in the Conference Hall to ensure the acoustic quality of broadcasting and simultaneous interpretation; and replacement of outdated electrical installations and installation of energy-saving devices.

(d) Under section 11 of the Hospital Authority Ordinance (Cap 113), the Director of Audit may conduct an examination into the economy and efficiency with which the Authority has expended its resources in performing its functions and exercising its powers.  It is noted that the Audit Commission takes into account a number of factors such as materiality, risk, timeliness, auditability and value added in selecting and prioritising audit topics for detailed investigation.  The Audit Commission will keep in view HA's activities and utilisation of resources and conduct an audit on HA when the situation so warrants.

Ends/Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:38

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