Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ14: Medical examination for recovered SARS patients
Following is a question by the Hon Chan Yuen-han and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (December 8):
Question:
It has been reported that some days ago the Hospital Authority (HA) conducted a medical examination which included tests on lung function and bones for recovered Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) patients in order to decide whether they could continue to receive subsidy from the SARS Trust Fund. On the other hand, some recovered SARS patients held that they were not arranged to receive such medical examination service as a result of their failure in their applications for the Fund. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the frequency of medical examinations for recovered SARS patients conducted by HA, and whether such examinations were only targeted at functional capacities or physical constitutions in which problems have been inflicted as a result of SARS treatments;
(b) if such medical examinations were only provided for recovered SARS patients whose applications for the SARS Trust Fund had been approved; if so, whether HA will consider providing such service for recovered SARS patients who have failed in their applications for the Fund; if not, the reasons for that; and
(c) if HA will consider establishing a mechanism to conduct regular medical assessments for all recovered SARS patients in order to facilitate the review of the impact and effectiveness of the relevant treatments and medications on patients?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Hospital Authority (HA) asked all post-SARS patients to return for medical examinations at 6-month intervals. A total of 12 designated post-SARS clinics have been set up in various acute public hospitals to conduct these examinations. At present, the third round of medical examinations (i.e. 18 months after recovery) is being conducted. These examinations assess the respiratory dysfunction, orthopedic dysfunction as well as the overall physical and psychological conditions of the patients. Where necessary, the patients may be referred to the relevant specialists for further follow-up assessment and/or treatment.
(b) The medical examinations described above are offered to all post-SARS patients. They are not limited to those who are applying or have applied for assistance under the Trust Fund for SARS.
Financial assistance under the Trust Fund for SARS is only given to those applicants who have been verified by the HA to suffer or continue to suffer from the relevant dysfunction(s) arising from SARS. For this purpose, applicants for the Trust Fund for SARS are required to undergo some objective medical tests, such as lung function test and physiotherapy/occupational therapy tests, periodically to verify their eligibility for assistance. This does not mean that the same medical tests are not available to post-SARS patients who are not applying to the Trust Fund for SARS. The question is whether there is a medical need to conduct those tests for these other post-SARS patients. If the medical staff judges that there is such a need based on the relevant screening parameters and expert opinion when the patients return to the post-SARS clinics for the 6-monthly medical examinations, then they would also request the patients to undergo further medical tests so as to more accurately assess their conditions. It is therefore important for post-SARS patients, who have not applied for assistance under the Trust Fund for SARS, to attend the periodic medical examinations at the post-SARS clinics.
(c) The HA has already established a mechanism to conduct regular medical assessments for all post-SARS patients, as described in paragraph (a) above. In addition, the HA has set up a SARS Collaborative Group comprising experts in respiratory medicine and relevant clinical specialties since the beginning of the SARS outbreak in 2003 to evaluate and discuss the future clinical management of SARS, and to regularly review the clinical conditions and management plans for post-SARS patients.
Ends/Wednesday, December 8, 2004
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