Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ1: Elderly health centre services
Following is a question by the Hon Mrs Anson Chan and a reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (March 5):
Question:
The 18 elderly health centres (EHCs) under the Department of Health currently
provide such services as physical check up, health education, etc. for their
elderly members. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the current number of elderly people aged 65 or above, together with a
breakdown by districts;
(b) in respect of each EHC, of the number of elderly people serviced and their
total attendances last year, the current number of persons waiting for enrolment
as members and their average waiting time, as well as the resources and manpower
allocated to the EHC each year; and
(c) given that the population continues to age, whether it will increase or
redistribute the resources allocated to EHCs, including manpower and supporting
facilities, and increase the quota for the relevant services; if it will, of the
details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
The Government has attached importance to the health of the elders and has
strived to enhance their health and capability for self-care through various
health care services, health education and outreaching services.
(a) According to the statistical data provided by the Census and Statistics
Department in 2007, there were about 870 000 elders aged 65 or above in Hong
Kong. The number of elders by districts are detailed in Annex I.
(b) Since 1999, the Department of Health (DH) has established one elderly health
centre (EHC) in each of the 18 districts over the territory to provide
comprehensive primary health care services to senior citizens. Each EHC is
manned by seven staff members on average, including one doctor and three nurses.
About $4.9 million are allocated to each EHC per year. Services provided by the
EHCs include health assessment, physical check-up, counselling, health education
and general out-patient service. At present, the 18 EHCs offer a total of some
38 000 memberships each year. In 2007, the EHCs handled about 182 000
attendances for health assessments and treatment.
As old members would usually renew their membership, the annual membership
turnover of the EHCs is not high and new memberships are limited. Currently,
there are about 23 000 elders awaiting enrolment as EHC member. In 2007, the
average waiting time was 38.3 months.
(c) The services of the EHCs are heavily subsidised by the Government and fee
waivers are available to recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance
and those who have financial hardship. This and the ageing population lead to an
ever increasing demand for primary health care services for elders. It is not
possible to meet the health care needs of all the elders through the 18 EHCs
alone. The provision of highly subsidised primary health care services by EHCs
is also not the most cost-effective and sustainable way to deliver services to
elders. Given this, the Government at present has no plan to increase the
membership size and manpower of the EHCs.
Indeed, EHCs are not the only providers of primary health care services for
elders. The DH, Hospital Authority (HA), community service organisations and
private health care providers also provide similar services. As regards
out-patient services, the HA provides general medical services for the public,
including the elders, through over 70 general out-patient clinics. The elders
can also receive health care services offered by non-government organisations
(NGOs) which are reasonably priced. As regards health education, free health
talks and other health education activities for elders and their carers are
organised by the 18 visiting health teams of the DH in collaboration with the
elderly centres operated by NGOs. In addition, the DH produces health
educational kits for self-learning by elders and for use by other elderly
service centres, so as to further promote health education and disease
prevention.
To encourage elders to make better use of primary care services close to their
homes so that they can have easier access to health care and continuity of care
provided by their chosen health care providers, the Government will put in place
a pilot scheme to provide health care vouchers for the elderly. The objectives
of the scheme are to implement the "money follows patient" concept on a trial
basis by providing the elders with partial subsidy for choosing private health
care services and to further strengthen public awareness on health maintenance
and appropriate use of health care resources through promoting the concept of
shared responsibility for health care.
Ends/Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Issued at HKT 13:22
NNNN