Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ18: Public Chinese medicine clinics

Following is a question by the Hon Fernando Cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 20):

Question:

Regarding the Chinese medicine clinics established by the Hospital Authority ("public CMCs"), will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether it knows the average figures of the following for each public CMC at present: daily consultation quota, number of patient attendances, utilization rate and number of patients who fail to obtain consultation slots;

(b) whether it knows the special arrangements made by each public CMC for Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients, such as the daily consultation quotas designated for them and restriction on their frequency of consultation, and whether arrangements have been made for these recipients to receive treatment at another time when the consultation quotas are exhausted; if there are such arrangements, of the average waiting time required; and

(c) given that the number of public CMCs will only be increased from nine at present to 14 in 2009, whether the Government has reviewed the needs of elderly CSSA recipients to receive treatment at public CMCs, and whether the Government will provide subsidies to the elderly CSSA recipients who fail to get consultation slots at public CMCs and thus need to seek treatment at private CMCs?

Reply:

Madam President,

Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) recipients are entitled to free medical services available at all public western medicine clinics, hospitals and other western medicine medical service units.

Public Chinese medicine clinics (CMCs) are set up to promote the development of "evidence-based" Chinese medicine through clinical research, systematise the knowledge base of Chinese medicine and provide training opportunities for new graduates. At present, the services of public CMCs have been provided on a tripartite model in which the Hospital Authority (HA) collaborates with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) and a local university in each of the CMCs.

(a) As the senior Chinese medicine practitioners in the public CMCs have to be responsible for providing training and undertaking clinical research and as the consultation ability of the junior Chinese medicine practitioners (Chinese Medicine degree courses graduates receiving training in the clinics) differs, there is no standardised daily consultation quota applicable to all CMCs. The NGOs will set their own daily quota having regard to the conditions of their clinics and make adjustments to the consultation quota in the light of any manpower changes and the daily schedule of the Chinese medicine practitioners.

Of the nine existing CMCs, three came into operation in late 2003 and the remaining six were only commissioned in 2006 and early 2007. On the basis of the first three CMCs which have accumulated operation experience in running the clinics, the average monthly patient attendances for each of the clinics is about 2 500 (the daily patient attendances is in the range of about 80 to 140), and consultation slots were exhausted on most working days. Concerning the number of patients who could not be arranged to receive consultation on the same day, as the NGOs do not maintain such records, we are unable to provide the concerned figures.

(b) At present, at least 20% of the consultation quotas of CMCs are allocated to CSSA recipients with fees and charges (including consultation fee together with two doses of herbal medicine) waived. As each CMC has different daily consultation quota, the daily quota allocated for CSSA recipients in each clinic also varies. There is no limit on the frequency of consultation for CSSA recipients at these CMCs. In cases where the consultation quota of the clinic for the day has been exhausted, the concerned NGO will normally advise the CSSA recipients to make booking for another day or to seek consultation again on another day. Concerning the number of CSSA patients who could not be arranged to receive consultation on the same day, as mentioned in part (a), we are unable to provide the concerned figures. In addition to CSSA recipients, the Government has also encouraged NGOs to subsidise the medical expenses of low-income elderly by offering concessionary fees.

(c) We are actively planning to set up five more CMCs and the funding proposal, which was supported by the Public Works Subcommittee at its meeting on June 6, 2007, will be submitted to the Finance Committee on June 22, 2007. Subject to approval, it is expected that three of the CMCs will be set up by mid 2008 while the remaining two by early 2009. These new CMCs will be located in districts with a relatively high proportion of elderly population, including Eastern District, Sha Tin, Sham Shui Po, Wong Tai Sin, and North District. These clinics will be able to cater for the needs of elderly CSSA recipients who choose to seek treatment from Chinese medicine practitioners. In addition, there are a number of other Chinese medicine clinics run by NGOs in various districts offering free or low-cost Chinese medicine services. These clinics have all along been catering for the needs of a large number of elderly patients for Chinese medicine services. At public general out-patient clinics, apart from pre-booking of follow-up consultations for elderly patients with chronic illnesses, "Elderly Appointment Quota" has been added to the telephone booking service to cater for the needs of those elderly with episodic illnesses. In sum, the existing public healthcare services together with healthcare services provided by NGOs have been able to provide suitable healthcare for elderly CSSA recipients. The Government does not have any plan to provide subsidies for the elderly to seek consultation from private Chinese medicine practitioners.



Ends/Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:44

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