LCQ1: Obstetric services arrangements
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     Following is a question by the Dr Hon Margaret Ng and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February 22):

Question:

     At present, the SAR Government implements the same policy in respect of pregnant mainland women whose spouses are permanent residents of Hong Kong (singly non-permanent resident pregnant women) and those whose spouses are not permanent residents of Hong Kong (doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women) giving birth in Hong Kong.  There have been comments that children of "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" are children born to Hong Kong people, and as indicated by the figures given by the Government in reply to a question of a Member of this Council in November 2009, the number of babies born in Hong Kong to "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" in each of the years between 2002 and 2008 was some 7,000 to 9,000 which was not substantial, the hospitals in Hong Kong were able to cope with them, and therefore the SAR Government should deal with "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" and "doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women" separately in formulating its policy on pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of babies born in Hong Kong to "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" in each of the years between 2009 and 2011; and

(b) whether the SAR Government will respectively formulate different policies on "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" and "doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women" giving birth in Hong Kong (including measures regarding the two aspects of quotas for obstetric services in public and private hospitals as well as fees payable by non-local pregnant women using obstetric services in public hospitals, etc.); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

     As far as obstetric services are concerned, it is the Government's policy to ensure that Hong Kong residents are given proper obstetric services as well as priority in the use of these services. The Administration is very concerned about the surge of demand for obstetric services in Hong Kong by non-local women (mainly from the mainland) in recent years, which have caused tremendous pressure on the overall obstetric and neonatal care services and affected the provision of services to local women.  To ensure that local pregnant women are given priority for obstetric services and neonatal care services, the Hospital Authority (HA) revised the obstetric services arrangements for non-local women in February 2007.  HA would reserve sufficient places in public hospitals for delivery by local women and public hospitals would only accept bookings from non-local women when spare service capacity is available.

     In view of the increasing demand for obstetric services in Hong Kong by local women and the possible effects of the "Year of the Dragon", we have launched further measures in the middle of last year to limit the number of non-local pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong in 2012 to 35,000.  Public hospitals will provide 3,400 delivery places for non-local women in 2012.  If the demand for obstetric services in public hospitals from local pregnant women increases, we will further reduce or cancel all the places for non-local women in order to cater for the service needs of local pregnant women.  Once the service quotas are full, HA will stop accepting bookings from non-local women.  As for private hospitals providing obstetric services, they will also ensure that adequate quotas are reserved for local women, and consider reducing the number of bookings for deliveries by non-local women in 2012 having regard to their own circumstances.  They would limit the overall quotas reserved for non-local women to around 31,000.  We estimate that there will be a nearly 20% decrease in the number of deliveries by non-local women in Hong Kong in 2012 as compared with 2011.

     My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:

(a) In 2009 and 2010, the numbers of live births born in Hong Kong to Mainland women whose spouses are permanent Hong Kong residents are 6,213 and 6,169 respectively, and the number for January to November 2011 is 5,745.

(b) Hong Kong's healthcare system is provided primarily for Hong Kong residents.  For both public and private healthcare services, local residents are the key targets of services.  Our public healthcare services are heavily subsidised by the Government at an average rate of over 95%.  It is necessary for the Administration to ensure that our public healthcare services can meet public demand and at the same time can sustain in the long-term within the limited financial resources.  Therefore, we need to draw up eligibility criteria for receiving the heavily subsidised public healthcare services and accord priority to taking care of the needs of Hong Kong residents.  The provision of healthcare services for non-local residents should be limited to a level that can be supported by our healthcare system.

     Following the recommendation of the Report of the Task Force on Population Policy released in 2003, eligibility for the heavily subsidised healthcare services is restricted to holders of Hong Kong Identity Card or children under 11 years of age who are Hong Kong residents (i.e. Eligible Persons (EPs)).  Non-Hong Kong residents who are the spouses or children of Hong Kong residents would be regarded as Non-eligible Persons (NEPs).  These people and other non-Hong Kong residents are provided with public healthcare services in emergency situations and they may seek non-emergency public healthcare services when there is spare service capacity.   However, the rates of charges applicable to NEPs will apply.  Since the public healthcare services in Hong Kong are heavily subsidised by the Government, this arrangement can help ensure the rational use of public resources.

     In addition, fees for public healthcare services are currently charged based on the status of the patients directly receiving the services (i.e. depending on whether the patient is an EP or not) and no consideration is given to family relationship.  As in the case of obstetric services, fees are charged based on the status of the pregnant women, and no consideration is given to whether their husbands are Hong Kong residents or not.  Therefore, non-local women who are spouses of Hong Kong residents are required to pay charges applicable to NEPs when using the obstetric services in Hong Kong.  At present, we have no plan to differentiate non-local women giving birth in Hong Kong into different categories for different treatment.

     We understand that some Mainland spouses of Hong Kong residents would like to give birth in Hong Kong.  They can register for public obstetric services when spare service capacity is available in public hospitals.  We also encourage private hospitals to provide service first to Mainland pregnant women whose husbands are Hong Kong residents as far as possible, after they have accorded priority to serving local pregnant women, so that these Mainland pregnant women can choose to deliver in local private hospitals.

     I would like to draw the attention of the Mainland spouses of Hong Kong residents who intend to deliver in Hong Kong that they are required to make prior booking at hospital before using our obstetric services.  They are also required to undergo antenatal checkups by obstetricians in Hong Kong at an appropriate stage to assess if they are suitable to give birth in Hong Kong so that the pregnant women and their fetuses are not subject to risks associated with travels or other factors.  We hope that the pregnant women would take their own safety and that of their babies as their prime consideration and avoid the dangerous behaviour of seeking emergency deliveries through Accident and Emergency departments shortly before labour without prior booking.

Ends/Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:30

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