********************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) today (August 3) announced the findings and recommendations of the Report of Review Committee on Management and Follow-up of Mental Patients with reference to the mental patient incident in Kwai Shing East Estate which was submitted to the HA Chief Executive and the Secretary of Food and Health.
The HA Chief Executive, Mr Shane Solomon, said, "We welcomed and accepted the recommendations of the Committee. The recommendations to increase case management and working between different parties will help identify at-risk behaviour earlier."
Mr Solomon also thanked the members of the Review Committee for their efforts and valuable contributions in the completion of the review report.
Chaired by Professor John Leong, Chairman of Hospital Governing Committee of Castle Peak Hospital and President of the Open University of Hong Kong, the Review Committee was appointed by HA in May this year to review the management and follow-up of mental patients as well as recommending improvements to community support with reference to the Kwai Shing East Estate incident. The committee comprises a mix of experts from the medical and social welfare sectors. Over the past two months, it has interviewed the health care professionals involved as well as some patient groups, care-givers groups, and members of HA Central Coordinating Committee of Psychiatry to formulate the recommendations.
Professor Leong said, "We acknowledged the work done by the Government since 1983 on improving mental health services to people of Hong Kong. However, some improvement measures can be introduced in the current system to better support patients and improve their quality of life."
"The Committee concurred that the existence of a number of factors would contribute significantly to the success of supporting high risk patients in the community. These include the collaboration and communication among HA and relevant government departments; the availability of timely information to support application of compulsory hospital admission in case of need; and active participation of family members and care givers."
"On communication of relevant information of high risk patients among different departments, the committee understands the concern on issues related to personal data privacy and stigmatisation against mental patients as expressed by patient groups."
"The Committee also made reference to the Community Treatment Order (CTO) in the UK and Australia and recommended further study on the applicability and practicability of CTO in Hong Kong," Professor Leong added.
In response to the recommendations made by the Committee, HA Chief Executive Mr Shane Solomon said, "HA will draw particular attention in the feasibility for information sharing with other government departments on a need-to-know basis without jeopardising patient privacy and rights; and tighten up collaboration with these departments in providing training to officers for early detection of high risk mental patients, and to provide education to the public for detection of potential risks and channels to seek for assistance."
"As stipulated in the HA Annual Plan 2010/11, we are launching district based Personalised Care Programme in the form of case management for patients with severe mental illnesses in Kwai Tsing, Yuen Long and Kwun Tong. We have also expanded the use of new psychiatric drugs with proven effectiveness and reduced side effects," Mr Solomon remarked on the latest plans and direction of the mental health services of the Authority.
The Review Committee Report has been posted on HA homepage www.ha.org.hk/haho/ho/pad/ReviewCommitteeReport_31July2010-tc.pdf .
Ends/Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Issued at HKT 20:42
NNNN
