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The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) today (February 20) started to send out invitation letters to the first batch of around 4,000 cataract patients of public hospitals to offer them the Cataract Surgeries Programme, which will reduce their waiting time.
To enhance the capacity to offer cataract surgery to public hospital patients, a one-off allocation of $40 million has been earmarked by the Government for the HA to implement the Cataract Surgeries Programme. This public-private partnership model is the first of its kind to increase the services offered by the HA. The programme involves the provision of a fixed subsidy of $5,000 for each cataract surgery performed by participating private ophthalmologists. Patients may be required to co-pay no more than $8,000.
In mid January this year, HA invited all private ophthalmology specialists in Hong Kong to participate in the programme. The response has been positive and encouraging. A total of 70 private ophthalmologists (65%) have already enrolled in the programme.
Dr Cheung Wai-lun, HA Director (Cluster Services), said, "In the HA, there has been a steady increase of cataract patients waiting for surgery. Currently, there are 50,731 patients on the waiting list of public hospitals. The annual output of cataract surgeries is around 17,000 cases while the number of new cases coming in each year is about 21,000. Given the increasing demand, the average waiting time for a cataract surgery at the moment is around three years. Since cataract prevalence increases with age, we expect that the demand for surgery will continue to grow with our ageing population.
"The public-private partnership programme will be able to provide more choices for patients and also expedite the date of regaining their eyesight. The whole programme will benefit more than 7,000 patients directly. Patients who are on the routine waiting list and suitable for local anaesthesia cataract surgeries might be invited. A central waiting list for these patients has been consolidated and we will first invite those patients with the longest waiting time. In this first batch of invitations, we are inviting patients who have been put on the routine waiting list on or before June 30, 2004. Depending on the feedback of the first batch of invited patients, we will then send out invitations to other patients in three to four batches. It is estimated the programme will last for about two years.
"To enable the invited patients to understand more about the programme details, the HA has set up an enquiry hotline 2300 6600, and will arrange a forum for the patients next week. HA staff will be on site to explain the programme details and also help the patients to complete the required documentation for registration."
Dr Chow Pak-chin, the President of the Hong Kong Association of Private Eye Surgeons, said, "This programme is a key step in further developing innovative models of public-private partnership for delivering healthcare services in Hong Kong. We support the programme as it can help the patients directly and relieve the increasing demand for cataract surgeries. This is a 'triple-win' scenario in which patients, the HA and the private sector will benefit.
"The market price for a cataract surgery in the private sector ranges from over $10,000 to $20,000. As patients joining this programme are mainly public hospital patients, we agree with the HA to set the ceiling of charges for this programme at $13,000.กจ
In view of the financial difficulties of some patients who are recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and holders of full medical fee waiver certificates, some participating private ophthalmologists have already agreed to offer a number of surgeries on a charitable basis to patients without co-payment. At the same time, public hospitals will also perform additional cataract surgeries outside normal clinic hours for needy patients.
Ends/Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Issued at HKT 19:00
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