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Following is a question by the Hon Starry Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (July 10):
Question:
The Department of Health set up the Elderly Health Service in 1998, under which one elderly health centre (EHC) was established in each of the 18 District Council districts in Hong Kong to enhance primary health care for the elderly, improve their self-care ability and encourage healthy living. Yet, some members of the public have recently relayed to me that quite a number of elderly people do not know the services provided by EHCs, and at present, elderly people wishing to enrol as members of EHCs have to wait for more than one year to receive the first health assessment service. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the ways through which the Government promotes the services of EHCs to the elderly people at present; whether it has reviewed the effectiveness of such promotional efforts; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
(b) of the numbers of members of various EHCs at present and the percentages of such numbers in the total numbers of elderly people eligible for enrolling as members in the relevant districts, as well as the respective average waiting time for elderly people to become members of various EHCs;
(c) whether it has recently reviewed the effectiveness of EHCs' services; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) whether the Government has considered increasing the number of EHCs in tandem with the rising elderly population; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Elderly Health Service (EHS) under the Department of Health (DH), which comprises 18 Elderly Health Centres (EHCs) and 18 Visiting Health Teams (VHTs), was established in 1998 to provide primary healthcare services, especially preventive care services, for the elderly. The EHCs provide integrated healthcare services, including health assessment, treatment and health education, for elderly aged 65 and over on a membership status. Health talks and workshops are organised regularly to raise the elders' awareness of disease prevention and to promote their health literacy. Families of members and non-member elders may also join the health talks. My reply to the four parts of the question raised by the Hon Starry Lee is as follows:
(a) Over the past few years, the EHS has been promoting public awareness of elderly health through various channels, including press releases, internet websites, television and radio interviews, and the production of various health promotion materials (e.g. VCDs and booklets).
As the services of the EHCs are heavily subsidised and the charge is very low, there is a huge demand for their services. Besides, as most old members of the EHCs will renew their membership, the membership turnover is not high and the annual quota for new membership is limited. As at the end of May 2013, there were about 13 700 elders awaiting enrolment as EHC members and the average waiting time was 15.8 months. We have no plan to further promote the EHCs at this stage.
(b) Please refer to the Annex for the existing number of elders enrolled as EHC members, the percentage of enrolled members in the population aged 65 or above in respective districts and the median waiting time for enrolment as new members of the EHCs.
(c) The performance of the EHCs is regularly monitored through enrolment and attendance statistics as well as ad hoc studies. Members are highly satisfied with the services provided by the EHCs and there is a high re-enrolment rate of over 80 per cent.
(d) In addition to elderly health centres, there are various primary care service providers in the community including other service units of the DH, the Hospital Authority (HA), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), private doctors and other private healthcare service providers. The Government has also implemented, in collaboration with the private sector and NGOs, the following initiatives with particular focus on the elderly population:
(i) the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme launched in January 2009, to provide elderly persons aged 70 or above with subsidy for using private primary care services. The annual voucher amount was increased to $1,000 starting from January this year and the Scheme will be converted into a recurrent support programme for the elderly next year;
(ii) the Elderly Vaccination Subsidy Scheme launched in October 2009, to provide subsidies for elderly aged 65 or above to receive influenza vaccination and pneumococcal vaccination from private medical practitioners;
(iii) the Pilot Project on Outreach Primary Dental Care Services for the Elderly launched in collaboration with NGOs since April 2011, to provide primary dental care through outreach services for elderly people in residential care homes for the elderly and day care centres for the elderly; and
(iv) the Elderly Health Assessment Pilot Programme launched in collaboration with NGOs, to provide elderly persons aged 70 or above with subsidy for receiving health assessment services in the private sector. The two-year pilot programme will be launched in mid-2013. It is expected that 10 000 elderly persons will be benefited from the pilot programme.
Ends/Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Issued at HKT 15:50
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