The Director of Social Welfare (DSW) after careful consideration has decided to revoke the Certificate of Exemption (CoE) in respect of Bridge of Rehabilitation Company held by Bridge of Rehabilitation Services Limited, a spokesman for the Social Welfare Department (SWD) said today (November 7).

     The spokesman pointed out that the decision was made according to section 11(4) of the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance. The SWD has served a notice to the company today stating that the revocation of its CoE will take immediate effect. All of the 79 residents of Bridge of Rehabilitation Company have moved out of the home and social workers of the SWD will continue to follow up on their adaptation after moving to new homes and provide support whenever required. 

     The SWD spokesman said, "We understand that some residents have special needs in mental wellness while individual persons may need some time to get used to new environments, and it also takes time for staff of the new homes to get familiar with new residents' likes and dislikes as well as their habits and routines. The department's social workers, throughout the entire adaptation period, will continue to follow up on the adaptation of individual residents and maintain close contact with their families to ensure that they are properly cared for."

     The privately run residential care home for persons with disabilities (RCHD) is situated at Wo Tong Tsui Street in Kwai Chung. The SWD served a notice on October 20 to the company operating the home stating the department's intention to revoke the CoE in respect of the home, and stating that the CoE holder may make written representations on the matter to the DSW. The department's Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for Persons with Disabilities did not receive written representations from the company by the deadline.

     The SWD gave directions under the Ordinance on August 31 and September 9 to the home. However, it could not fully meet the requirements within the specified period as stipulated in the directions. Furthermore, the home still failed to comply with the requirements of the Code of Practice concerning its management and operation, and there were no sustained improvements, the spokesman noted.

     The spokesman stressed that the SWD has all along attached great importance to the quality of RCHDs. RCHDs with CoEs issued must comply with necessary requirements concerning home management and health care to ensure that the daily operation of the homes could reach acceptable standards in the course of making improvement works.

     He reiterated that the licensing office will step up monitoring over the homes with CoEs issued and enhance the quality of their services through a host of facilitating measures, including providing subsidies under the Lotteries Fund for the homes to carry out improvement works and strengthening training on management. The SWD has also been discussing with all homes in respect of which CoEs are issued to expedite their improvement works so that they could meet the licensing requirements as soon as possible.

     The Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance commenced operation on November 18, 2011, with the licensing office being established in the same year. The licensing system of RCHDs was fully implemented on June 10, 2013. For RCHDs that existed before the commencement of the Ordinance but are unable to comply fully with the licensing requirements, the operators may apply for a CoE in order to allow time for the homes to carry out improvement works for meeting the licensing requirements and standards.

Ends/Monday, November 7, 2016
Issued at HKT 19:56

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