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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee Kok-long and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (May 22):
Question:
Quite a number of elderly people have relayed to me that their demand for dental services is extremely great. However, as there are only 11 government dental clinics with general public sessions (government dental clinics) in the territory, the service capacity is obviously inadequate. Also, the services provided are limited to pain relief and tooth extraction, and do not cover denture-fixing or tooth-filling services. As such, most elderly people can only seek treatment from dental clinics in the private sector, but they generally cannot afford the high fees charged by such clinics and the healthcare vouchers provided by the Government are also of little help. As a result, quite a number of them have put off treatment for their dental problems, thus causing long-term impacts on their physical and psychological health. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of service hours of various government dental clinics at present; whether it will consider afresh extending the service hours of such clinics, expanding their service capacity and increasing the number of such clinics; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) among the elderly people receiving the services of government dental clinics at present, of the respective percentages of those involving pain relief and tooth extraction services; whether the authorities have considered providing additional quotas of dental services specifically for the elderly people; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) given the great demand among the elderly people for dental services and their low financial affordability in general, whether the authorities have considered implementing new measures to provide subsidised dental services for the elderly people by means of, for instances, adopting a co-payment approach or providing comprehensive dental services for the elderly people at low charges; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government's policy on dental care seeks to raise public awareness of oral health and facilitate the development of proper oral health habits through promotion and education, thereby improving oral health and preventing dental diseases. The Government has been allocating resources primarily to promotion and preventive efforts.
To enhance the oral health of the public, the Oral Health Education Unit (OHEU) of the Department of Health (DH) has, over the years, implemented oral health promotion programmes targeted at different age groups and disseminated oral health information through different channels.
At present, the Government focuses its efforts on providing emergency dental services for the public. DH provides free emergency dental services (generally referred to as General Public Sessions) through its 11 government dental clinics. In addition, specialist oral maxillofacial surgery and dental treatment are provided by the Oral Maxillofacial Surgery & Dental Units (OMS&DUs) of DH in seven public hospitals for the referred hospital in-patients, patients with special oral health care needs and dental emergency. The specialist dental care services in OMS&DUs are provided through referral. Members of the public in need of these services can be referred through hospitals/ out-patient clinics/ centres under the Hospital Authority or any registered dentists or medical practitioners. OMS&DUs will arrange appointments for them according to the urgency of their conditions. Patients with emergency needs, such as cases of dental trauma, will be provided with immediate consultation and treatment. As regards curative dental services, they are mainly provided by the private sector and non-government organisations (NGOs).
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) and (b) The service sessions of the 11 government dental clinics with General Public Sessions and the maximum number of discs allocated per session are given in the Annex. Patients holding discs for a particular session will receive consultation during that session.
Dental services at General Public Sessions cover treatment of acute dental diseases, prescription for pain relief, treatment of oral abscess and teeth extraction. The dentists will also give professional advice with regard to the individual needs of patients. As regard the elderly people receiving the services, we do not have any statistics relating to the percentages of those involving pain relief and teeth extraction services.
As indicated above, the Government has been seeking to raise public awareness of oral hygiene and health for the development of proper oral health habits through promotion and education. The OHEU of DH has been actively organising territory-wide activities for various target groups. For example, the "Love Teeth Campaign" is an annual campaign launched since 2003 to promote oral hygiene among various sectors of the community and enhance the oral health of the public. The Government has been allocating resources primarily to promotion and preventive efforts and currently does not have any plan to expand the public dental services.
(c) Primary dental care services in Hong Kong are mainly provided by the private sector and NGOs. At present, there are about 2 060 registered dentists in the territory providing services for the public. Under the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme launched since 2009, elders aged 70 or above can make use of the vouchers for dental services provided by private dental clinics and dental clinics run by NGOs. As at mid-April 2013, a total of 372 dentists have participated in the Scheme. In response to calls from community, starting from January 1, 2013, the Government has increased the annual voucher amount to $1,000.
Apart from the above, as most elderly people residing in residential care homes (RCHEs) or receiving services in day care centres (DEs) are physically weak, their frail conditions have made it difficult for them to receive dental care services at dental clinics. In the light of this, the Government launched the three-year "Pilot Project on Outreach Primary Dental Care Services for the Elderly in RCHEs and DEs" (Pilot Project) in collaboration with NGOs in April 2011 to provide outreach primary dental care and oral health care services to these elders. The Pilot Project is expected to provide services for about 100 000 attendances.
The Community Care Fund (CCF) has also set aside $100 million for the "Elderly Dental Assistance Programme" to subsidise needy elders for dentures and other necessary dental services. The Programme has been rolled out in September 2012 and is expected to run for about two years benefiting about 9 680 elderly people.
As for elderly people with financial difficulties, currently, dental grants are given under the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) Scheme to recipients who are aged 60 or above, disabled or medically certified to be in ill-health. Eligible CSSA recipients can approach the 54 dental clinics designated by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) for dental examination and estimate of cost, and then choose to obtain the relevant dental service from either the designated dental clinics or any registered dentists at non-designated dental clinics. The grant will be paid to meet the cost charged by the non-designated clinic, the cost estimated by the designated clinic or the ceiling amount set by the SWD, whichever is the less.
We will continue our publicity and education efforts to improve the oral health of the public. Thank you.
Ends/Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Issued at HKT 18:13
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