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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (February 27):
Question:
Some concern groups have relayed to me that the acute shortfall of subsidised residential care places provided by the Government respectively for the elderly and persons with disabilities (PWDs) at present has resulted in a very long waiting time for such places. The concern groups have also pointed out that such a situation not only seriously affects the health and quality of life of the elderly persons and PWDs who have yet to be admitted to residential care homes, but also renders the family members who take care of them physically and mentally exhausted. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the current number of elderly persons and PWDs in each District Council district who are waiting for subsidised residential care places, and their respective average waiting time; the average waiting time of those people who have been admitted to residential care homes recently;
(b) whether it has compiled statistics on the respective numbers of elderly persons and PWDs who stopped waiting for subsidised residential care places in each of the past five years, and whether it has conducted any survey on the reasons concerned; if it has conducted surveys, of a breakdown of the numbers of the people by reason in table form;
(c) among those sites currently zoned "Government, Institution or Community", of the number of sites planned for the construction of subsidised residential care homes for the elderly and PWDs, and the respective anticipated total numbers of residential care places that can be provided; and
(d) in the face of the problem of acute shortage of subsidised residential care places and the number of people waiting for the places increasing continuously, whether the authorities have any specific measures, apart from increasing the supply of such places, to shorten the waiting time; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the Hon Wu Chi-wai's four-part question is as follows:
(a) Regarding the residential care services for the elderly, as at end-December 2012, there were a total of 6 385 elderly citizens waiting for subsidised nursing home (NH) places and another 22 293 elderly citizens waiting for subsidised care-and-attention (C&A) places. The average waiting time for various types of subsidised residential care places for the elderly is as follows:
Types of residential Average Waiting time
care places (in months)
------------------- --------------------
NH places 37
C&A places 25
- places provided by 34
subvented homes and
contract homes
- places provided under the 7
Enhanced Bought Place Scheme
The above average waiting time refers to that of the elderly applicants admitted to subsidised residential care places for the elderly between October and December 2012. Since applicants can choose to wait for subsidised residential care places for the elderly in different districts at the same time, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) does not keep the number of applicants for subsidised residential care places for the elderly by district. Similarly, it does not maintain separate waiting lists for individual districts; nor does it keep the waiting time by district.
Regarding residential care services for persons with disabilities, as at end-December 2012, the numbers of applicants on the waiting lists and the average waiting time for different types of subsidised residential care services for persons with disabilities are tabulated as follows:
Average
Applicants Waiting Time
Type of on the Waiting in 2011-12
Service List (months)
------- -------------- ------------
Hostel for 2 173 81.6
Severely Mentally
Handicapped Persons
Hostel for Moderately 1 477 84.4
Mentally Handicapped
Persons
Supported Hostel 1 153 31.5
C&A Home for Severely 428 31.2
Disabled Persons
Hostel for Severely 433 37.4
Physically
Handicapped Persons
Long Stay Care Home 1 300 33.6
Halfway House 669 8.4
C&A Home for the 113 6
Aged Blind
Small Group Home for 73 7.2
Mildly Mentally
Handicapped Children/
Integrated Small
Group Home
Residential Special 44 15.6
Child Care Centre
Integrated Vocational NA NA
Training Centre (Note 1) (Note 1)
(Residential Service)
Bought Place Scheme NA NA
(BPS) (Note 2) (Note 2)
Note 1: Integrated Vocational Training Centre (Residential Service) admits service users directly, hence SWD does not capture statistics in this respect.
Note 2: Residential care services under the pilot BPS are provided for applicants waitlisted for Hostel for Moderately Mentally Handicapped Persons or Long Stay Care Home services, hence there is no separate waiting list or waiting time.
Similar to residential care services for the elderly, since an applicant for subsidised residential care services for persons with disabilities may concurrently waitlist for subsidised places in different districts, SWD does not capture such statistics as the number of persons on the waiting list and the average waiting time by district.
(b) The numbers of applicants admitted to subsidised residential care places for the elderly, applicants who withdrew their applications from the Central Waiting List, and applicants who passed away while waiting for subsidised residential care places for the elderly in the past five years are tabulated at Annex. The above three scenarios are the main reasons for the elderly stopping to wait for subsidised residential care places. The number of elderly who stop waiting for such places owing to other reasons is also tabulated at Annex.
As regards residential care services for persons with disabilities, the Central Referral System for Rehabilitation Services (System) covers various types of residential care services for persons with disabilities. An application may be deemed as closed in the database of the system for different reasons. These include switching to the waiting list for another type of residential care service owing to a change of care need, admission to residential care home, death, no further need for the required service, etc. However, the system does not capture statistics on these cases at present.
(c) To increase the supply of subsidised residential care places for the elderly and persons with disabilities, SWD will identify suitable premises for setting up residential care homes through long-, medium- and short-term planning. On short-term planning, SWD will actively identify vacant public housing units for conversion into residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) or residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs). On medium-term planning, we will closely monitor the availability of government buildings and school premises left vacant after service re-engineering for the provision of residential care homes. Examples include the conversion of the ex-Ma Tau Wai Girls' Home and the ex-O Pui Shan Boys' Home for the provision of RCHD, etc. On long-term planning, SWD will maintain close liaison with relevant government departments (including the Planning Department, the Lands Department, the Housing Department, etc) with a view to reserving sites at the land planning stage as far as practicable for setting up RCHEs or RCHDs. Examples include the redevelopment projects of the ex-Cheung Sha Wan Police Married Quarters and the Shek Kip Mei public rental housing (both will include the setting up of RCHEs and RCHDs upon their redevelopment), and the construction of a purpose-built building in the new development project in West Rail Long Ping (North) Station in Yuen Long to provide an RCHE, etc.
According to the statutory plans (including outline zoning plans), the planning intention of a land zoned "Government, Institution or Community" (G/IC) is primarily intended for the provision of government, institution or community facilities to serve the needs of the local residents and/or a wider district, region or the territory, and to provide land for uses directly related to or in support of the work of the Government, organisations providing social services to meet community needs, and other institutional establishments.
Whilst social welfare facilities are always permitted in G/IC zones, the suitability of the sites concerned for setting up social welfare facilities will hinge on a number of factors, including whether there are already some planned long-term uses, the local service demand, site area, site location and the surrounding environment (including transport, noise, air quality), and local views, etc.
As at end-January 2013, SWD planned to set up RCHE or RCHD in seven G/IC sites, which would provide a total of about 1 950 residential care places for the elderly (about 100 places) and residential care places for persons with disabilities (about 1 850 places) (including both subsidised and non-subsidised places). Separately, SWD also plans to provide a total of about 2 015 residential care places: about 1 130 for the elderly and 885 for persons with disabilities (including both subsidised and non-subsidised places) in 10 public rental housing developments, three Urban Renewal Authority redevelopment projects and four private development projects from 2013-14 to 2017-18. The number of places to be provided is preliminary estimates and subject to change as we continue to work out the details of the projects.
(d) In view of the ageing population and strong demand for subsidised residential care places for the elderly in the community, apart from making strenuous efforts to increase the provision of these places, we will also enhance community care and support services so that the elderly who prefer ageing in place can get appropriate assistance. This is in line with our elderly care policy of "ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up". Of all related measures, SWD will roll out the First Phase of the Pilot Scheme on Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly in September 2013. The scheme will adopt the new funding mode of "money-follows-the-user" in providing subsidies to eligible elderly with the use of voucher, so that they can choose the community care services which best suit their needs. The Government will also increase the provision of day care places under the conventional funding mode and extend the service hours of new Day Care Centres/Units for the Elderly.
As regards residential care service for persons with disabilities, the Government has all along been closely monitoring the service demand and, in accordance with the strategic directions enshrined in the Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan, adopting a three-pronged approach to encourage participation from different sectors to provide diversified residential care services for persons with disabilities, namely:
(i) regulating all RCHDs so as to ensure the service quality on the one hand and to help the market develop residential care homes of different types and operational modes on the other;
(ii) supporting non-governmental organisations to develop self-financing homes; and
(iii) continuing to steadily increase the number of subsidised residential care home places.
In line with these strategic directions, the Government has introduced a statutory licensing scheme under the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance (Cap. 613) since November 2011 to regulate the standards and operation of RCHDs. As a complementary measure, the Government has also launched a four-year pilot BPS for private RCHDs since October 2010 to purchase about 300 places by phases, with a view to encouraging private RCHDs to upgrade their service standards, increasing the supply of subsidised residential care places so as to shorten the service waiting time, and helping the market develop more service options. As at January 1, 2013, six private RCHDs had successfully joined BPS, providing a total of 245 BPS places. SWD will continue to keep in view the market situation of the private sector and purchase additional places.
In tandem, the Government has been actively developing day care and community support services, with a view to providing persons with disabilities with necessary training and support to facilitate their continuous living at home and full integration into the community. At present, the majority of persons with disabilities waiting for subsidised residential care places are receiving various day training, vocational rehabilitation and community support services. These services include day activity centres, sheltered workshops, supported employment, day care for severely disabled persons, home-based training and support, etc. Through the provision of the required rehabilitation services in response to individual needs, persons with disabilities are given the necessary support and assistance which enables them to continue to live in the community while relieving the burden on and the stress of their families or carers. At present, the Government provides more than 16 700 day training and vocational rehabilitation places for persons with disabilities in need.
On community support services, we have also introduced new service modes for service enhancement. Since January 2009, SWD has set up 16 district-based District Support Centres for Persons with Disabilities in the territory to provide one-stop community support services for persons with disabilities and their family members/carers, thereby facilitating their access to the required services in a single service point of their respective districts.
Besides, in order to strengthen support for persons with severe physical and intellectual disabilities who require a higher level of care and support, the Government launched a three-year pilot scheme on "Home Care Service for Persons with Severe Disabilities" in March 2011 to provide persons with severe disabilities who are living in the community and are on the waiting lists for subvented residential care services with a package of home-based care services, including personal care and escort service, occupational therapist/physiotherapist rehabilitation training service and nursing care service. Having regard to the service operation and response of service users, SWD conducted a mid-term evaluation of the pilot scheme in September 2012 with a view to monitoring the progress of service implementation. In view of the positive feedback that the scheme meets the needs of target users, we will regularise the service in March 2014 (i.e. following the completion of the three-year pilot scheme). We will also conduct an overall evaluation of the operation of the scheme in mid-2013.
Ends/Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:49
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