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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
In response to the motion debate moved by Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau on reforming the Hospital Authority (HA) at the Legislative Council meeting yesterday (March 9), the HA Chairman, Mr Anthony Wu, thanked the legislators for their constructive views, suggestions and invaluable feedback on public hospital services.
"To echo the response of the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in his concluding speech for the debate, I would reassure the Council and members of the public that the HA would strive to provide a sustainable and quality public healthcare service for Hong Kong," said Mr Wu.
Mr Wu reiterated that staff has always been the most important asset of the HA. "We continue to look for ways to improve the working conditions and environment for our staff. On staff recruitment and retention, we are constantly looking into manpower needs and career development of medical, nursing, allied health and supporting staff. Additional funding will also be allocated in 2011-12 to implement a full spectrum of training strategies and initiatives to enhance the competency and morale of our staff."
On the question of enhancing the HA's transparency, Mr Wu said various initiatives have been introduced. "The HA is reviewing the arrangement to provide public with more information on waiting time while the discussion of experts regarding the HA Drug Formulary will also be released on a regular basis to address the concern of patient groups."
In relation to resource allocation, Mr Wu remarked that the Pay for Performance mechanism introduced in 2009-10 has improved the fairness and transparency in resource allocation amongst clusters and hospitals.
He added that HA will continue to complement the primary care development strategy of the government to enhance chronic disease management through various programmes. Public Private Partnership Programmes will continue to help to steer healthcare services towards a more balanced development between the public and private sector under the Government healthcare reform initiatives.
"We will continue to use public resources in the most prudent manner to meet the challenges of ageing population and increasing demand for public healthcare services," Mr Wu concluded.
Ends/Thursday, March 10, 2011
Issued at HKT 00:38
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