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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 (June 9):
Question:
I have received complaints from quite a number of elderly people and organisations that there is currently an acute shortfall in the supply of subsidised places in the nursing homes (NHs) and care-and-attention (C&A) homes for the elderly, resulting in quite a long waiting time for such places. As at April 30 this year, there were 19,577 and 6,257 people waiting for these two categories of places respectively, while the ancillary facilities provided by the C&A homes participating in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme and other private homes are unable to meet the demand of some elderly people for a high level of care. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of elderly people who died while waiting for subsidised places in NHs and C&A homes last year;
(b) how the additional subsidised places in NHs and C&A homes to be provided by the Government in the next three years can improve the current queueing situation and reduce the number of elderly people who die while waiting for the places; whether the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, a Principal Official under the Accountability System, will resign on account of the problem that some elderly people died while waiting for subsidised residential care places for the elderly; if so, when he will resign; if not, of the reasons for that; and
(c) whether the Government will reconsider "fully subsidising" "all" subsidised NHs and C&A homes currently located in detached buildings to build additional storeys, setting aside the first to fourth floors of all newly completed public housing blocks, and "fully subsidising" non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to build subsidised NHs and C&A homes, so as to shorten the current waiting time for such places, as well as immediately allocating government premises which are currently vacant (including the premises owned under the title of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or the Financial Secretary Incorporated) and government lands for the provision of NHs and C&A homes, and "fully subsidising" NGOs to convert the buildings into subsidised NHs or C&A homes or build such homes, so as to optimise the use of land, increase the supply of NH and C&A places, create job opportunities and alleviate the queueing situation for the places; if so, whether it will be implemented in the next three years; if not, of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government's elderly care policy is to encourage elders to "age in place", which is in line with the wish of most elders and also the international trend. Our principle is supporting "ageing in place as the core, institutional care as back-up". In fact, not all elders with long-term care (LTC) needs have to stay in residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs), and even for those who have to, not all of them require subsidised residential care places. With adequate community care and support, elders with LTC needs can also continue to age at home.
For those elders waiting for subsidised residential care places, the Government is providing them with various kinds of assistance and services, including subsidised residential care services of a lower care level, subsidised community care services and Comprehensive Social Security Assistance, etc. Overall, there are some 25,000 elders waiting for subsidised residential care places. About 55% of them are receiving Government's assistance and services.
My reply to the Hon Leung Kwok-hung's question is as follows:
(a) Last year, the numbers of elders who passed away while waiting for subsidised nursing home (NH) places and care-and-attention (C&A) places were 1,822 and 2,716 respectively.
(b) At present, the Government is providing a total of about 26,000 subsidised residential care places for the elderly, serving about 44% of all elders staying in RCHEs throughout the territory.
In view of the relatively long waiting time for subsidised NH places and the limited supply of places that can cater for the needs of frail elders requiring nursing care in the private market, the Government decided last year to focus its effort on increasing the provision of NH places and C&A places offering a continuum of care. Through the implementation of a series of novel initiatives, the "Enhanced Bought Place Scheme" and the construction of new residential care homes, 1,556 additional subsidised residential care places for the elderly will be provided in the next three years, including 950 subsidised NH places and 606 subsidised C&A places. The additional subsidised NH places alone account for about 43% of the existing provision of subsidised NH places (i.e. 2,191 places). The waiting situation of frail elders for subsidised residential care places is expected to improve.
However, as the waiting time for subsidised NH places and C&A places is affected by a number of factors (for example, the special preference of applicants in terms of the location, diet, religious background of the RCHEs; whether the applicant have requested to join family members and/or relatives in the allocation of homes; the turn-over rates of individual RCHEs, etc.), it is difficult to estimate the extent to which the waiting time could be shortened by the new supply of subsidised places. But I wish to supplement that the current waiting time for C&A places is only two to three months if elders have no particular preferences for the RCHEs to be allocated.
(c) The third part of the question is about the identification of sites for the construction or extension of subsidised RCHEs. In exploring whether a particular site is suitable for development as an RCHE, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) will look into various factors, including the area, location, environmental quality of the site concerned; the facilities and development projects in the vicinity; and whether it can comply with the provisions under the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance regarding fire safety, etc.
SWD has been proactively identifying suitable sites for the construction of new RCHEs throughout the territory and has been exploring with relevant government departments (including Lands Department, Planning Department, Housing Department and Government Property Agency (GPA)) on the feasibility of providing RCHEs in new development/redevelopment projects and vacant buildings.
As regards government premises, GPA circulates information on vacant government premises to all bureaux and departments on a regular basis to invite applications to use such premises. However, there are no vacant premises suitable for converting into RCHEs for the time being.
Regarding public housing estate development projects, the Hong Kong Housing Authority will make reference to the "Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines" on the provision of social welfare facilities when planning new housing estates and will also consult SWD and District Councils, so as to accommodate welfare facilities in the development projects as far as practicable. Of the 16 subsidised contract RCHEs that have come into operation since 2001, 14 are indeed located in public housing estate developments.
As regards the Hon Leung's suggestion of building additional storeys on subsidised NHs and C&A homes located in stand-alone buildings, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) operating subvented RCHEs in stand-alone buildings can at any time apply to SWD for redeveloping or extending their premises to increase the number of residential care places, and seek approval from relevant departments as necessary.
On the extension or redevelopment costs, SWD will consider providing funding through the Lotteries Fund (LF), having regard to the needs of individual NGOs and whether the redevelopment or extension projects will enhance the support for frail elders, etc. In 2007, Helping Hand secured funding from LF for merging and reprovisioning three RCHEs at its holiday centre for the elderly in Tai Po, with a view to improving the living environment. In addition, the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals also secured funding from LF in 2009 for conducting a feasibility study on the redevelopment of its David Trench Home for the Aged in Southern District of Hong Kong Island.
Ends/Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:55
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