Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ19: Child Assessment Service
Following is a question by the Hon Li Kwok-ying and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (May 30):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council:
(a) in each of the past three years, of the number of children who received the
Child Assessment Service provided by the Government, and among them, the number
of those who were assessed as having development disorder, broken down by their
developmental problems;
(b) of the average waiting time for new registrations at the Child Assessment
Centres, the Centres' staff establishment, and the number of children they can
assess each year; and
(c) given that referral by a registered doctor or psychologist is required for
receiving assessment services at the above Centres, of the current mechanism to
assist parents in understanding childhood developmental problems, so that they
can make early arrangements for their children with such needs to receive
appropriate assessment and rehabilitation services, and whether the Government
will provide initial assessment services in this respect at the Maternal and
Child Health Centres for children below the age of 12?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) In the past three years, the numbers of new cases diagnosed by the Child
Assessment Service and the Student Health Service of the Department of Health
(DH) by types of developmental problems are shown in Annex 1(Note).
The Child Assessment Centre of the Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital under the
Hospital Authority (HA) also provides assessment service. In addition,
therapeutic and rehabilitative services are provided. While a breakdown of the
numbers of its new cases in the past three years is not readily available, the
Centre is able to furnish the total number of cases it is currently handling as
shown in Annex 2.
(b) At present, the Child Assessment Service of the DH can provide assessment
and other related services for 16 000 children each year on average. The number
of new cases in each of the past three years is over 6 000 on average.
In respect of waiting time for new cases, the Child Assessment Service of DH
pledges that appointment for new cases will be provided within three weeks, and
assessment of each new case will be completed within six months. It has been
able to fulfill the performance pledge in over 90% of its new cases. The Child
Assessment Service of DH is staffed by 86 medical and health personnel. As for
the Student Health Service, the assessment programme is staffed by five clinical
psychologists, and the waiting time for assessment ranges from 16 weeks to seven
months. In the past three years, the Student Health Service assessed 1 300
school children each year on average.
In addition, 10 staff members of the Child Assessment Centre of HA are
responsible for conducting assessment of children. (Some of the staff have to
handle other clinical work). The Centre handles about 3 600 attendances relating
to new cases each year. Triage measures are adopted in the Centre according to
the needs of the cases. The shortest waiting time for new cases is less than two
weeks, and the average waiting time is six months.
(c) At present, the public can have access to the preliminary assessment
provided by Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) and the Student Health
Service without referrals. Children identified with health problems will be
referred to the Child Assessment Service or specialist clinics for thorough
assessments and follow-ups. To raise public awareness of the special needs of
children with developmental problems, a wide array of public education
programmes are organised under the DH's Child Assessment Service, including
publishing articles in newspapers, participation in related media productions,
organising talks for parents, pre-primary institutions and related community and
rehabilitation institutions, as well as production and distribution of
publications related to childhood developmental problems. The DH's Family Health
Service has provided pre-school teachers of individual districts with training
in phases on pre-school children's developmental problems. Assistance has also
been made available to the pre-school teachers in timely identification of
children with developmental and behavioural problems. A systematic referral
mechanism is in place through which children with such problems can be referred
to the MCHCs for preliminary assessment.
On assessment, the Family Health Service under the DH provides an Integrated
Child Health and Development Programme for babies and young children from birth
to the age of 5 in its MCHCs across the territory. The Developmental
Surveillance Scheme under the programme offers parents a wide range of
information about children's development. Such information help parents acquire
a clear picture of their children's development at various stages and the
circumstances which require parents' special attention, and enable them to
monitor the growth and development of their children in collaboration with the
medical staff more effectively. Besides, interviews with the parents and
children will be arranged by the MCHCs in the six specific ages of the children,
i.e. at 2, 4, 6, 12 and 18 months and 4 years of age. Their children's
development in various areas, such as their gross and fine motor, language and
communication, social behaviour and play, self-care, vision and hearing, is
monitored. A more comprehensive preliminary developmental assessment will also
be conducted on a need basis, or the case will be referred to the Child
Assessment Service of DH or other specialists for further follow-ups as
appropriate.
In addition, arrangements will be made each year for student participants of
DH's Student Health Service to receive a series of health services in the
student health service centres. These include physical examination, health
screening, individual counselling and health education.
Note: A child may be diagnosed as suffering from more than one developmental
problem.
Ends/Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:37
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Annex 1 & 2 to LCQ19