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LCQ17: Monitoring of residential care homes for the elderly
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     Following is a question by Hon Leung Che-cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (July 8):

Question:

     Recently, some incidents have aroused the public's grave concerns about the safety of the residents of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs). For example, there was a case in which an RCHE, upon knowing that one of its residents had gone missing at night, not only failed to immediately report the case to the Police, but also delayed informing the resident's relatives until after the resident had gone missing for two hours. Upon knowing the incident, the relatives reported it to the Police, and the resident concerned was finally found by the Police. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) of the numbers of reports, received by the Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in each of the past three years, on incidents involving RCHE residents (e.g. residents contracting infectious diseases, going missing) which were submitted by RCHEs in accordance with the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation (Cap. 459 sub. leg. A) or the Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons), with a breakdown by type of incident; how SWD followed up such incidents;

(2) of the timeframe and procedure currently required by SWD for RCHEs to inform the relatives of their residents who encountered incidents; the number of RCHEs violating such requirements in the past three years and the penalties imposed by SWD on such RCHEs;

(3) as SWD currently requires that upon the occurrence of accidents involving residents, RCHEs make records of the details of the accidents and keep the records, but it does not require RCHEs to submit reports on such accidents, whether SWD will consider requiring RCHEs to do so, in order to strengthen its monitoring of RCHEs; if SWD will not consider, of the reasons for that; and

(4) whether SWD has grasped the information about those RCHE residents who pay home fees with their Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments at present and do not receive regular visits by relatives; if SWD has, whether it regularly sends officers to visit such residents so as to understand their living conditions at RCHEs, and provide assistance to them in a timely manner?

Reply:

President,

     My reply to the question raised by Hon Leung Che-cheung is as follows:

(1), (2) and (3) The Government attaches great importance to the quality of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and has set up a licensing and regulatory mechanism for RCHEs in accordance with the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance (the Ordinance) and the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation (the Regulation). The Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) (the Code) issued by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) sets out the principles, procedures, guidelines and standards for the operation, keeping, management or other control of RCHEs for compliance by the operators of RCHEs. Under the Code, an RCHE must submit a "Significant Incident Report" to the Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (LORCHE) within 3 days after a significant incident has occurred (e.g. missing of residents). A "Significant Incident Report" shall record, among others, whether the guardian/ guarantor/ family members/ relatives or contact persons of the resident concerned have been informed. Moreover, the Code requires an RCHE to take remedial action immediately after the occurrence of an accident, which should be recorded and maintained as soon as possible (including details of the incident, the condition of the affected elderly person, the remedial action taken in relation to the accident, etc.). LORCHE or other departments will inspect the relevant records when necessary.

     Upon receipt of a "Significant Incident Report", LORCHE will follow up with the RCHE concerned on whether appropriate action has been taken, including whether the relatives or contact persons of the resident concerned have been informed. Where room for improvement is found in the handling of the incident by the RCHE, LORCHE will require the relevant RCHE to conduct a review and take effective measures to prevent re-occurrence of similar incidents. If the RCHE has contravened the requirements of the Ordinance, the Regulation or the Code in the handling of the incident, depending on the nature and severity of the irregularity, LORCHE will issue advisory or warning letters to the RCHE concerned. If the RCHE persistently fails to make improvements, LORCHE will consider instigating prosecution action depending on the circumstances.

     As at end-March 2015, there were 737 RCHEs in Hong Kong. Between April 2012 and March 2015, each year on average LORCHE received about 60 "Significant Incident Reports" on missing of residents from RCHEs. All cases were followed up in accordance with the above procedures. During the same period, each year on average LORCHE received about 230 reports on outbreaks of infectious diseases in RCHEs. Upon receipt of a report, apart from following up on the situation of the RCHE, LORCHE will also require the RCHE to collaborate with the Centre for Health Protection to adopt effective infection control measures to contain the spread of infectious diseases.

(4) SWD does not maintain information about those RCHE residents who pay home fees with their Comprehensive Social Security Assistance payments at present and do not receive regular visits by relatives. All along, it has been the Government's policy to provide appropriate support and services to individuals and families in need, including those elderly persons who do not have relatives in Hong Kong and need to be admitted to an RCHE. At present, service units such as the Integrated Family Service Centres, Integrated Service Centres, District Elderly Community Centres, Medical Social Services Units, etc., provide support to needy elderly persons. Social workers of the relevant service units will conduct comprehensive assessments of the welfare needs of the elderly persons concerned, visit them on a regular or need basis and provide appropriate support and services based on their actual circumstances.

Ends/Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:38

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