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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung and a reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (January 13):
Question:
It has been reported earlier that a staff member of a private residential care home for the elderly (RCHE) in Sheung Shui, which participated in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme of the Social Welfare Department (SWD), was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for assaulting an elderly female resident and forcing her to eat faeces. Moreover, an elderly man was recently found abandoned in Guangzhou with his travel documents and luggage being taken away by his son intentionally, and he finally returned to Hong Kong with the assistance of the Government. Quite a number of elderly groups and elderly people have relayed to me that they are dissatisfied that there is no dedicated legislation at present for combating elder abuse behaviour and protecting the legal rights of elderly people. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether SWD has prosecuted the RCHE involved in the aforesaid elder abuse case under the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance; if it has, when the prosecution was made and of its outcome; if not, whether the RCHE has not instituted prosecution because SWD considers that the RCHE's act involved in the aforesaid incident is reasonable and has not breached the Ordinance; and
(b) given that children and juveniles are at present protected under the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance, but there is no dedicated legislation for protecting elderly people, and since the Government had advised in its reply to the question raised by a Member of this Council on November 11, 2009 that "at present, Hong Kong has sound legislation to protect all citizens (including elders) from abuse", whether it will repeal the Protection of Children and Juveniles Ordinance immediately, so that the public will not have the impression that the Government has only enacted dedicated legislation for protecting children and juveniles but not elderly people; if it will, when the Ordinance will be repealed; if not, whether it will re-assess if there is a need to enact dedicated legislation for protecting elderly people from being abused?
Reply:
President,
(a) Elder abuse is a grave and intolerable crime, and must be dealt with seriously. We are very concerned about the case mentioned in the question, in which a care worker of a residential care home for the elderly (RCHE) was convicted by the court because of elder abuse. After several months of investigation, interviews with the management and relevant staff of the RCHE concerned, and taking into account the court verdict, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) has decided to deduct 40 bought places from the RCHE. This is because months after receiving the complaint, the management of the RCHE still failed to take every reasonable step to prevent the abuse of elderly residents in accordance with the Service Quality Standards as set out in the service agreement for the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme. Mindful of the needs of the elderly residents who are living in the RCHE concerned, SWD will gradually deduct the bought places when elderly residents leave the RCHE for various reasons. SWD has also requested the RCHE to pay particular attention to the professional ethics of its staff and provide them with better training. SWD is seeking legal advice on whether to prosecute the RCHE under the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance (Chapter 459).
Apart from punitive measures, proactive prevention and monitoring measures are also very important in stemming elder abuse in RCHEs. The Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance and its subsidiary legislation provide for the regulation of RCHEs through a licensing system administered by the Director of Social Welfare. The licensing requirements cover such aspects as health, sanitation, staffing, safety, location, premises design, structure, equipment, fire precautions and size of RCHEs. All RCHEs have to be licensed and the Licensing Office of the Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (LORCHE) will inspect RCHEs from time to time to ensure compliance with the licensing requirements. RCHEs concurrently registered under the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance (Chapter 165) are also subject to monitoring by the Department of Health. Furthermore, SWD has been providing support to RCHEs, such as providing training and information to their staff, in order to enhance their service quality.
Besides, we encourage elderly residents and their family members or carers to play an active monitoring role. If they are not satisfied with the services of RCHEs, they may call LORCHE or SWD's 24-hour hotline. SWD will take immediate follow-up actions, including inspecting the RCHEs concerned, supervising their remedial actions, as well as issuing guidelines on topical issues, with a view to helping the whole RCHE sector enhance its service quality.
(b) At present, Hong Kong has sound legislation to protect all citizens, including elders, from abuse. Specifically, abused elders are protected by legislation for criminal offences, including the Crimes Ordinance (Chapter 200), the Offences Against the Person Ordinance (Chapter 212) and the Theft Ordinance (Chapter 210). They may also apply under the Domestic and Cohabitation Relationships Violence Ordinance (Chapter 189) to the court for an injunction order against molestation by their spouses, children or other relatives as specified in that Ordinance.
Besides, according to the Mental Health Ordinance (Chapter 136), the Guardianship Board has the power to issue a guardianship order to appoint a guardian for making decisions on behalf of a mentally incapacitated person (including an elder) in respect of his personal or healthcare matters, or to hold, receive or pay a specified monthly sum on behalf of such person.
In view of the above, we do not see the need to enact a dedicated legislation against elder abuse.
Apart from legal protection, we have been promoting public awareness of the problem of elder abuse through publicity and education. We have also adopted various preventive and intervention measures, and provided training to frontline staff so as to provide appropriate support to abused elders.
As regards the Protection of Children and Juvenile Ordinance (Chapter 213)mentioned by the Hon Leung Kwok-hung, it aims at protecting the children and juveniles as specified in the Ordinance who are mainly those having been assaulted, ill-treated, or sexually abused, or whose health, development or welfare has been neglected. Exercising the power conferred by the Ordinance, the Juvenile Court may make decisions in relation to the guardianship, custody and control of these children and juveniles. As this arrangement is not applicable to adults, including elders, in general, it should not be used as a reference for dealing with elder abuse. There is a genuine need to retain the Protection of Children and Juvenile Ordinance. The Ordinance is also not incompatible with the other pieces of legislation mentioned above for protecting our citizens, including elders, from abuse.
Ends/Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Issued at HKT 14:40
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