LCQ9: Provision of non-emergency transfer service for patients
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     Following is a question by the Hon Wong Yuk-man and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (October 20) :

Question:

     Quite a number of elderly people and elderly groups have complained to me that the existing provision of non-emergency ambulance transfer service and Easy-Access Transport Services (ETS) for patients to attend follow-up medical appointments are severely insufficient and, because such transport services cannot be arranged for them, patients have often failed to attend follow-up medical appointments as scheduled, which may affect their health adversely. Moreover, Accessible Hire Cars (AHCs) and Rehabuses services have time restrictions and charge high fares on the basis of journey distance, which the general poor and sick elderly people find it hard to afford. In this connection, with the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of non-emergency ambulance transfer service and ETS users as well as the utilisation rate of such services in the past five years (set out in the table below);

Year  Number of                   Number of ETS users
      non-emergency ambulance     and utilisation
      transfer service users      rate of
      and utilisation rate        such service
      of such service

2009
2008
2007
2006
2005

(b) whether the Government will consider increasing the number of vehicles plying non-emergency ambulance transfer service and ETS to meet users' need; if it will, when it will do so, the number of vehicles to be increased, and the time when they will be put into service; if not, the reasons for that;

(c) whether the Government will consider lowering the fares of AHCs and Rehabuses to the level of that for ETS in order to benefit more poor and sick elderly people; if it will, when it will do so; if not, the reasons for that; and

(d) whether the Government will consider fully subsidising the elderly people living on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance to take AHCs and Rehabuses to public hospitals or specialist out-patient clinics for follow-up medical appointments when non-emergency ambulance transfer service and ETS cannot be arranged for them; if it will, when it will do so; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     The Hospital Authority (HA) provides transport services to patients with mobility-disability mainly through the non-emergency ambulance transfer service (NEATS) and ETS. NEATS provides point-to-point transfer service primarily for mobility-handicapped patients who are unable to use public transport such as bus, taxi and Rehabus. HA's ETS, which is operated by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation (HKSR), provides transfer services between homes and hospitals or clinics for patients aged above 60 with minor mobility-disability.

(a) The numbers of persons served by NEATS and ETS in the past five years are as follows:

Year    NEATS      ETS
2009    386,148    157,194
2008    367,056    145,751
2007    351,285    145,360
2006    347,565    135,004
2005    354,627    135,128

(b) The numbers of persons using NEATS and ETS have increased steadily in the past few years. In order to enhance the services, HA has increased the manpower for provision of NEATS and added six new vehicles to the NEATS fleet, thereby increasing the fleet size to 133 vehicles. HA will keep the two services under review having regard to the service demand, including actively exploring improvements to the booking procedures of ETS, in order to provide more effective transfer service for mobility-handicapped patients between homes and hospitals or clinics.

(c) Through subvention to HKSR for the operation of Rehabus, the Government provides point-to-point transport services for those persons with disabilities (PWDs) who have difficulties in using normal modes of public transport. The Rehabus offers scheduled routes, feeder routes to and from hospitals or rehabilitation centres, and dial-a-ride service to convey PWDs in need to office, school, receive rehabilitation training, participate in other social activities or attend medical appointments. The annual subvention of the Government accounts for over 80% of the recurrent operating cost of the Rehabus.

     Apart from the operation of Rehabus, HKSR also received funding under the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for procuring 20 wheelchair accessible hire cars, i.e. AHC, as well as the operating cost for the first three years to launch an accessible transport service for wheelchair-bound passengers. AHC service has been fully implemented since October 2008, and the project has to operate on a self-financing basis within three years upon implementation.

     To cater for the transport needs of different people, the service nature, target clients, operation modes, fee charging mechanism, etc, of ETS, Rehabus and AHC are different.

     In general, the fee levels of the subvented Rehabus and ETS are comparable and recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance may also apply for half-fare concession for Rehabus dial-a-ride service to relieve their financial burden on transport expenses. Through the provision of the self-financing AHC service,  PWDs are provided with an additional service option to existing transport services, thereby facilitating more effective utilisation of resources of the Rehabus in providing transport services for PWDs in need. Given its self-financing service mode, the fee level of AHC should not be compared with that of the two other transport services subvented by the Government and HA.

(d) As stated above, Rehabus and AHC provide transport services for those PWDs who have difficulties in using normal modes of public transport, and the service targets are different from that of NEATS and ETS. HA will continue to keep NEATS and ETS under review having regard to service demand, and explore other improvement measures in order to facilitate patients in need in their transfer to and from hospitals or clinics.

Ends/Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:25

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