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Following is a question by the Hon Wu Chi-wai and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, in the Legislative Council today (February 11):
Question:
Regarding the development of public health-care services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) given that the Government said in reply to my question in October 2013 that the Hospital Authority (HA) would conduct service planning for the Kai Tak Hospital and was reviewing and assessing the overall demand-and-supply situation of health-care services in Kowloon to facilitate planning work, whether it knows the latest progress of the two tasks (including the planning for the redevelopment of Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital), and the anticipated earliest completion dates of the tasks;
(2) as this year's Policy Address has pointed out that upon completion of Phase 1 construction works, Kai Tak Hospital will house an oncology centre, as well as in-patient and ambulatory services, of the other specialist out-patient and in-patient services which the Hospital will then provide, as well as the commencement dates of post-Phase 1 works and the number of phases by which such works will be carried out;
(3) as this year's Policy Address has pointed out that upon completion of the improvement works to barrier-free facilities in general out-patient clinics and acute hospitals at the end of last year, HA will complete the improvement works in the remaining hospitals by the end of next year, whether it knows the details of the improvement works completed last year and those to be completed by the end of next year (including the locations of the clinics/hospitals with such facilities, types of the facilities, completion dates/anticipated completion dates and project estimates);
(4) as HA is planning to consolidate the facilities of HA and the Department of Health at the Robert Black General Out-patient Clinic in Wong Tai Sin, with a view to increasing its number of consultation rooms and out-patient service quota, whether the Government knows the latest progress of such work, and whether HA has any plan to conduct similar exercises in other clinics for the purpose of upgrading clinic facilities or service enhancement; if so, of the details (including the details of the clinics involved, work progress, project estimates, completion dates and services to be improved); and
(5) of the details of the works projects implemented so far since the Finance Committee of this Council approved in 2013 a one-off grant to HA for minor works projects, including the hospitals/clinics concerned, types of works projects, commencement/anticipated completion dates and estimates of such projects?
Reply:
President,
The public health-care sector is the cornerstone of Hong Kong's health-care system and the safety net for all. The Government will uphold its firm commitment to public health-care and sustain its investment for the sector's stable development. In view of the ageing population and growing health-care demand, we will take measures to keep strengthening our health-care services and increasing the service capacity to meet the long-term health-care needs of Hong Kong.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) To better meet the long-term health-care needs of Kowloon residents, the Hospital Authority (HA) is actively pursuing to re-plan the service provision for its three Kowloon hospital clusters in the light of the region's service demand and supply. It involves a review and assessment of the overall demand and supply of health-care services in Kowloon, and planning for clinical services based on analysis of the relevant needs of the region. The service planning mainly covers formulation of a health-care service proposal for an acute general hospital to be developed in the Kai Tak Development Area (Kai Tak), and setting of the roles and future development directions of the existing hospitals in Kowloon.
The HA has completed the strategic planning and technical feasibility studies for the proposed acute general hospital in Kai Tak, and we will proceed with the development of this new hospital. When fully developed, the hospital will provide clinical services of major specialties, including accident and emergency (A&E) service. It will also house a state-of-the-art neuroscience centre to provide specialty services of neuroscience.
The HA's planning for health-care services and facilities is based on the service supply and demand in a cluster as a whole, taking into account the roles and long-term development directions of the hospitals in the cluster as well as the co-ordination of their services and facilities. This is to ensure that the hospitals within the cluster will complement each other by performing their respective roles and provide the most appropriate health-care services for the communities they serve.
For the redevelopment of Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, the HA's review and assessment of its long-term development directions have established that it should take the role of a non-acute hospital focusing on the provision of ambulatory health-care services. The HA will plan the hospital's redevelopment along this line. It will also take into account stakeholders' views through consultation and update the project details with a view to redeveloping the hospital as soon as possible.
(2) Given its large scale, the construction of the new acute general hospital in Kai Tak will have to be carried out in phases. The first phase is expected to complete in 2021. According to the preliminary plan, Phase 1 of the new hospital will provide in-patient and oncology services, including ambulatory chemotherapy, surgery and radiotherapy.
The HA will continue to closely monitor and review the utilisation and demand trend of individual health-care services in the district. A detailed service plan for the new hospital and the direction of its future development will be worked out based on the service needs. The HA and relevant departments have started preparatory work for construction of the new hospital. Subject to the progress of the first phase, works of subsequent phases will duly commence.
(3) The HA started improvement works for its existing facilities in phases from 2011-12 according to the design requirements set out in the Design Manual: Barrier Free Access 2008. The barrier-free access improvement works for a number of general out-patient clinics (GOPCs) and 16 public hospitals with A&E departments were completed in late 2014. Similar improvement works for the remaining hospitals and those works tied in with the renovation of GOPCs are expected to complete by the end of 2016. Cost estimates of the entire project will only be available after the detailed design of the remaining works has been finalised.
(4) To improve service quality, some GOPCs of the HA are undertaking interior renovation and facility enhancement to increase the number of consultation rooms and rationalise the patient flow. The planning and implementation of the renovation and facility enhancement are carefully designed and arranged according to the service demand, facility conditions and mode of operation of these GOPCs. Take Wong Tai Sin District as an example, the renovation of the East Kowloon GOPC completed in 2012 has provided new spaces for enhanced service for treatment of chronic diseases and provision of more consultation rooms to increase service capacity. The GOPC of Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital also has a larger number of consultation rooms and improved waiting environment for patients after renovation in 2011.
Regarding renovation of the Robert Black GOPC, as the clinic is situated inside a government building in the possession of the Department of Health, the HA is actively discussing with the department about space usage in the building. It is hoped that the clinic's services can be strengthened by optimising the use of all the space in the building. The HA intends to increase the service capacity of the clinic by setting up more consultation rooms and rationalising the patient flow, and upgrade the facilities and improve the waiting environment for patients as far as practicable. If the proposal is adopted and further information is available, the HA will consult the District Council and the community concerned in due course.
(5) In 2014-15, the HA has allocated $890 million from the one-off grant approved by the Legislative Council to fund about 1 180 on-going and new minor projects. These projects include about 100 items for facility rejuvenation, 80 items for capacity enhancement, 40 items for safe engineering, 80 items for enhancement of universal accessibility and 880 items for regular maintenance and preparatory works for major capital projects. New projects which commenced in 2014-15 mainly include renovation or improvement works for 33 hospital wards in different clusters, and refurbishment of five GOPCs. The HA plans to allocate about $1 billion in 2015-16 to implement some 1 360 on-going and new projects. These projects include 146 items for facility rejuvenation, 118 items for capacity enhancement, 71 items for safe engineering, 107 items for enhancement of universal accessibility and 917 items for regular maintenance and preparatory works for major capital projects.
Ends/Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Issued at HKT 17:58
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