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LCQ20: Residential care homes places for elderly and persons with disabilities
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     Following is a question by the Hon Wong Sing-chi and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (November 30):

Question:

     Regarding the allocation of places in residential care homes (RCHs) for the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs) by the Social Welfare Department (SWD), will the executive authorities inform this Council:

(a) given that owing to an error of SWD's computer system which assists in the allocation of places in RCHs for the elderly, an elderly man who had originally been on the waiting list for places in RCHs for the elderly with his wife under "group application" and had subsequently switched to "individual application" after the death of his wife was allocated a place after a delay of six months, how often the authorities conduct inspection and maintenance of the computer system used for allocating places in RCHs for the elderly and PWDs;

(b) whether they had compiled statistics in the past five years on the errors of the computer system used for allocating RCH places which had affected the elderly or PWDs on the waiting list; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(c) given that some elderly groups have pointed out that SWD currently does not have a notification or inquiry mechanism in place to inform the elderly concerned when they will be able to move into RCHs and, as a result, they are unable to plan and make arrangements for their lives; whether the authorities will consider setting up such a notification or inquiry mechanism, so as to inform the elderly or PWDs on the waiting list when they will be able to move into RCHs; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to Hon Wong Sing-chi's question is as follows:

(a) The Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services (CRSRehab) and the Long Term Care Services Delivery System (LDS) of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) were set up in April 2000 and November 2003 respectively for the allocation of subsidised rehabilitation services to persons with disabilities and long-term care services for the elderly.

     SWD engages an information technology system contractor (hereafter referred to as "contractors") to provide maintenance and support services for each of the two systems mentioned above.  The maintenance and support services include daily checking of the system to ensure its smooth and normal operation, and upgrading of the system and software as and when necessary.  If any computer application programme problem is identified, the contractor concerned will conduct a full investigation and adopt rectifying measures immediately.

     SWD also reviews the operation of the two systems from time to time and makes arrangements for improving them.  As SWD launched the Client Information System, CRSRehab was upgraded in 2010.  The Department also plans to fully upgrade LDS and the relevant work is expected to commence in 2012-13.  

(b) Since the implementation of CRSRehab and LDS, with the exception of the present case under LDS in which a technical problem arose from a change of the application from "group application" to "individual application", no other computer system problem affecting the queuing position of the applicants on the service waiting list has been found.

(c) Under the existing mechanism of the Central Waiting List, applicants for residential care services have many choices.  For example, applicants for long-term care services for the elderly can choose residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) in terms of location (i.e. cluster, district or a specific home, etc.), type (i.e. subvented RCHEs, contract RCHEs, RCHEs participating in the "Enhanced Bought Place Scheme" or "Nursing Home Place Purchase Scheme"), religious background, diet, etc.  An applicant may also choose to wait for the service jointly with other applicants (including spouse, relative, friend, etc.) by way of "group application".  Applicants of residential care services for persons with disabilities can also indicate location preference of the home in terms of cluster, district or a specific home.  Applicants who are on the waiting list of Hostel for Moderately Mentally Handicapped Persons and Long Stay Care Home can also choose to accept the residential care places provided under the
"Pilot Bought Place Scheme for Private Residential Care Homes".  

     Both LDS and CRSRehab will allocate suitable service to applicants in accordance with their application dates and preferences.  

     Besides, we also allow applicants to change their preferences owing to changes in personal or family circumstances during the waiting period.  In fact, such changes are rather common, and they will affect the queuing position of, and the time required for allocation of residential care places to, other applicants on the Central Waiting List.  

     Since each applicant has a number of choices as mentioned above, and their preferences may change from time to time, it is difficult for SWD to inform each and every applicant his/her latest waiting situation.  Nevertheless, SWD will regularly provide general information about the waiting list on its homepage for reference by the applicants and the referral service units.  Such information includes the "number of applicants on the waiting list for subsidised residential care services for the elderly", "average waiting time for admission to subsidised residential care services for the elderly", "the latest application date with placement offer of subsidised residential care services for the elderly", "number of applicants on the waiting list for subsidised residential services for persons with disabilities" and "the latest application date with placement offer of subsidised residential services for persons with disabilities".  When applicants are allocated a residential care place, they will be given sufficient time to consider whether to accept it or not.  Besides, they can discuss with SWD or the home concerned when exactly to move in.  These arrangements can help the applicants properly plan and make arrangements for their lives.

Ends/Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Issued at HKT 11:53

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