Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ12: EASY Programme

Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (November 20):

Question:

Regarding the EASY Programme (Early Assessment Service for Young People with Psychosis) implemented by the Hospital Authority (HA), will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:

(a) the staffing arrangement and service regions of the above programme;

(b) the respective annual numbers of cases handled by the four EASY regional service centres specially set up under the above programme since their establishment, and the numbers of new cases received each year; whether the numbers of such cases are on the rise in recent years; if so, of the reasons for that; and how the HA copes with the increasing service demand;

(c) the respective numbers of cases in which the patients under the programme are receiving treatment, fully rehabilitated or are deteriorating; if any support services have been provided to those receiving treatment; if so, of the organisations providing such support services;

(d) given that the target clientele of the above programme are young persons aged 15 to 25, if HA has provided support or treatment services to persons with psychosis who are in other age groups; if it has, of the organisations providing such services; and

(e) if HA has assessed the number of persons with psychosis who have not received any diagnosis or treatment; and why they refuse to do so?

Reply:

(a) The Early Assessment Service for Young People with Psychosis ("EASY") Programme was commissioned in July 2001 to assess 1 400 young persons annually with a view to identifying those suffering from psychotic problems for early treatment. A total of eight doctors, one clinical psychologist and 13 nurses are currently deployed to operate the Programme. Four teams have been set up to serve the needs of the entire Hong Kong. The main service areas covered by the four EASY teams are as follows:

  
(b) The number of cases assessed by each of the four teams in the 2001/02 financial year and the current financial year are set out below:


Number of cases assessed

* As the programme was launched in July 2001, the statistics in question covered the period from July 2001 to March 2002.

It is premature to comment on caseload trend as the EASY Programme has only been launched for slightly more than one year.

To cope with service demand for psychiatric services, HA has consolidated its psychiatric services through cluster-based service rationalisation, rightsizing its psychiatric hospitals, enhancing community psychiatric services, and effective triage of outpatients.

(c) The number of cases treated by each of the four EASY teams are set out below:

Number of cases treated

The objective of the EASY Programme is to reduce the lag time between the onset of severe mental illness and treatment. Severe mental illness such as schizophrenia often runs a chronic course (often in terms of years) and patients suffering from such illness are prone to relapses. In general, psychiatric patients need to be followed up for an extended period of time. As the Programme has only been launched for slightly more than one year, it is too early to conduct an assessment on how far the objective of the Programme has been achieved as well as its outcome. HA will closely monitor the progress of patients treated under the Programme.

The EASY programme provides comprehensive service for early detection and treatment of young people with psychotic illness, ranging from research and education programmes to preventive services, clinical assessment and medical treatment. The EASY teams also work with non-governmental organisations such as the Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service to provide vocational rehabilitation programmes, including vocational training and training in social and communication skills, to facilitate patients' re-integration with the community.

(d) As psychosis typically begins in late adolescence or early adulthood, the EASY Programme targets at patients within the age range of 15 to 25. If HA's clinicians detect symptoms of psychosis in patients belonging to other age groups in the course of treating patients, such patients will be referred to HA's psychiatric service for assessment and if necessary, treatment.

(e) To ascertain the incidence of psychosis in the age cohort of 15-25 as well as the number of persons with psychosis who do not present themselves for diagnosis or treatment requires detailed research studies. No such studies have been undertaken in Hong Kong.

The reasons for patients refraining from seeking treatment include lack of self-awareness of their problems, fear of stigmatisation or lack of knowledge of the existence of a full range of specialised psychiatric services provided by HA. In this respect, HA has stepped up its educational and publicity activities to encourage patients to seek early treatment, and enhance public awareness of the availability of a comprehensive range of mental health services and programmes run by HA.

End/Wednesday, November 20, 2002
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