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:
| Team | Main Service Areas |
| Team based at Queen Mary Hospital (QMH) |
Hong Kong Island, Kowloon East and Islands |
| Team based at Kwai Chung Hospital (KCH) |
Kowloon Central, Kowloon West, Tsuen Wan, Kwai Tsing and Tung Chung |
| Team based at Castle Peak Hospital (CPH) |
Tuen Mun and Yuen Long |
| Team based at Shatin Hospital (SH) |
Shatin, Tai Po, Sai Kung, Fan Ling and Sheung Shui |
(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
| Team based at | 2001-02 (from Jul 2001 to Mar 2002*) |
2002-03 (up to Oct 2002) |
| QMH | 320 | 207 |
| KCH | 558 | 383 |
| CPH | 493 | 326 |
| SH | 356 | 490 |
| Total | 1 727 | 1 406 |
* 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
| Team based at | 2001-02 | 2002-03 |
| QMH | 143 | 119 |
| KCH | 246 | 154 |
| CPH | 123 | 135 |
| SH | 162 | 69 |
| Total | 674 | 477 |
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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