Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ18: Audiological services

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (October 21):

Question:

Audiologists specialise in providing examination, treatment and rehabilitation services to patients suffering from hearing impairment or vertigo. However, there is hearsay that some institutions allow other allied health staff or even people who are not medical professionals to provide such services, thus directly affecting the quality of the services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) whether the authorities have issued any guidelines or criteria for determining what services must be provided by audiologists only;

(b) whether the authorities have received any complaint in the past five years about people impersonating audiologists to provide audiological services; if they have, of the details;

(c) whether the authorities have put in place any system to monitor audiological services; if they have, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;

(d) how many audiologists had provided the services concerned in Hong Kong in the past five years; whether the authorities have assessed the manpower supply of audiologists in Hong Kong in the next five years; if they have, of the situation; if not, the reasons for that; and

(e) whether the Government has considered widening the scope of application of elderly health care vouchers to cover audiological services (e.g. hearing tests); if it has, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that?

Reply:

President,

(a) Currently, the audiologists of the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Department of Health (DH) are mainly responsible for performing audiological assessment for patients; diagnosing the degree and type of impairment; offering professional advice and guidance on the selection of hearing aids and other appropriate remedial and rehabilitative measures; providing appropriate counselling and advice to patients and their family members; and assisting in the development of clinical audiological services to meet the prevailing needs, e.g. by introducing new techniques, procedures and equipment. The Sub-committee for Audiology under the HA's Coordinating Committee in Otorhinolaryngology is responsible for monitoring the quality of the HA's audiological services, and the DH also carries out internal assessment of the performance of its audiologists on a regular basis. In addition, the DH and the HA also provide audiological assessment services to secondary schools, primary schools and pre-school children. Children diagnosed with continued hearing impairment will be referred to the Education Bureau (EDB) for follow-up services. The EDB's audiological services mainly include follow-up audiological assessment, hearing aid prescription and fitting services for hearing-impaired school children, and advisory services for schools and parents. At present, the Government has not issued any guidelines or criteria for determining what services must be provided by audiologists only.

(b) No complaints have been received by the DH, HA and EDB in the past five years about people impersonating audiologists to provide audiological services.

(c) At present, 12 types of healthcare practitioners, namely, medical practitioners, dentists, Chinese medicine practitioners, midwives, nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory technologists, occupational therapists, optometrists, radiographers, physiotherapists and chiropractors, are required to have their professional qualifications registered under the law before they can practise in Hong Kong. Healthcare personnel providing audiological services are currently not included in the above list. In considering whether it is necessary to introduce legislation for regulation of a certain profession, the Government will first have regard to the possible risk caused to the general public in the event of any misconduct in that profession including failure to meet the professional standard required. Priority will be given to professions with a larger number of members who mainly work in the private sector as well as healthcare institutions which have more direct contact with patients. We also plan to review the structure, composition and operation etc of the Supplementary Medical Professions Council (SMPC). By then, we will also consider whether to include more supplementary medical professions under the supervision of the SMPC.

(d) According to the 2005 Health Manpower Survey, a total of 59 audiologists (Note 1) were employed by various institutions (Note 2). As to the HA, DH and EDB, they are currently employing 18, five and two audiologists for provision of audiology-related services. Regarding manpower supply, it is expected that there will be eight graduates of Master of Science in Audiology from universities in Hong Kong in the next two years.

(e) The Elderly Health Care Voucher Pilot Scheme was launched on January 1, 2009 for a period of three years to provide partial subsidy for the elderly to use private primary care services. As this is a pilot scheme, it starts with a smaller scale and audiological services are currently not included. The Government will conduct a comprehensive review upon the completion of the Pilot Scheme.

Note:

(1) This figure denotes the number of audiologists (on full-time and part-time employment) as reported by institutions employing these audiologists in their returns as at March 31, 2005. Audiologists refer to people with a master degree in audiology or equivalent qualifications.

(2) The 2005 Health Manpower Survey covered 8,526 institutions including the HA.


Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:55

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