Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ12: Primary health care services for elderly
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(April 22):
Question:
I have received complaints from elderly people and concern groups for elderly
people about new members of elderly health centres (EHCs) having to wait for a
long time for various healthcare services. In this connection, will the
Government inform this Council:
(a) of the respective numbers of attendances for the various healthcare services
provided last year by each EHC to its members;
(b) regarding each EHC in each of the past three years, of the number of
newly-registered members waiting for physical check-up services, the average
waiting time for first-time service, and the number of new members who passed
away while waiting;
(c) of the criteria adopted by the Government for drawing up the estimates of
expenditure of EHCs, and whether they include the elderly population figures of
various districts; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(d) whether it had assessed the effectiveness of the services provided by EHCs
last year; if so, what criteria were used for conducting the assessment; if not,
of the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
The Government has always attached importance to the health of elders. The
Department of Health (DH) currently provides comprehensive primary health care
services, including health assessment, physical check-up, medical consultation,
counselling and health education, to elderly members aged 65 or above, through
18 Elderly Health Centres (EHCs) in the territory. The objectives of setting up
EHCs are to enhance primary health care for elders, improve their ability to
take care of themselves and encourage them to develop healthy lifestyle.
(a) In 2008, the numbers of various health care services provided to members by
each EHC are shown in Annex 1.
(b) The number of elders waiting for enrolment as members and the waiting time
in respect of each EHC in the past three years are shown in Annex 2. New members
receive their first health assessment on the day they become members. The DH
does not keep statistics on the number of elders who passed away while waiting
for enrolment as EHC members.
The waiting time for EHC membership varies from district to district. Factors
affecting the waiting time include the size of the elderly population in
respective districts, elders' personal preference (e.g. individual elders may
join their friends in neighbouring districts to apply for membership in the same
EHC), availability of other physical check-up services in respective districts
and the renewal of EHC membership by elders. In view of these factors, the
waiting time for membership enrolment for each EHC often varies.
To shorten the waiting time for some elders, the DH provides them with
information on those EHCs with shorter waiting time for enrolment as members.
(c) The Government uses the past and anticipated numbers of membership enrolment
and attendances for health assessment and medical consultation for formulating
the estimated provision for the elderly health service.
The services of the EHCs are heavily subsidised by the Government. In view of
the ageing population, demand for primary health care services for elders will
only increase in the long run. It is not possible to meet the health care needs
of all elders through the 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.
Indeed, the EHCs are not the only providers of primary health care services for
elders. Other service units under the DH, the Hospital Authority, community
service organisations and private health care providers also provide similar
services. Elders can also receive health care services offered by non-government
organisations (NGOs) which are reasonably priced.
Private medical practitioners are also key providers of primary health care
services for elders. To enhance primary health care services for elders, the
Government has launched the Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme (the
Scheme) for three years starting from January 1, 2009. The Scheme aims at
providing additional choices for elders on top of the existing public primary
health care services, and enabling elders to choose their own private primary
health care services in their local communities that suit their needs most.
Under the Scheme, elders aged 70 or above will be provided with five health care
vouchers of $50 each annually to partially subsidise their use of private
primary health care services.
As regards health education, free health talks and other health education
activities for elders and their carers are organised by 18 visiting health teams
of the DH, in collaboration with 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, with a view to further promoting health
education and disease prevention.
(d) The Government conducts regular review and assessment on the service
effectiveness and performance of EHCs, using the annual statistics on the number
of membership enrolments, the number of attendances at health education
activities, and the number of attendances for medical consultation and health
assessment as criteria for the review and assessment.
Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Issued at HKT 16:01
NNNN
Annex 1 & 2 to LCQ12