Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ9: Hospital Authority Board and its functional committees
Following is a question by the Hon Andrew Cheng and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(December 16):
Question:
The Hospital Authority (HA) was established in 1990 under the Hospital Authority
Ordinance (Cap.113) and its main functions include encouraging public
participation in the operation of the public hospitals system. Regarding the
operation of HA, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the respective numbers of meetings of the HA Board and its 11 committees
(excluding the Hospital Governing Committees and the Regional Advisory
Committees) held and those not held because of a lack of quorum, as well as the
number of members whose annual attendance rates at meetings were below 50% last
year;
(b) if the HA Board and the aforesaid committees convened any public hearing
last year in respect of their discussion items and invited the organisations
concerned to attend and give their views; if so, of the number of public
hearings convened and the number of organisations which attended these hearings;
if not, how HA ensures that it has fully understood the concerns and views of
the organisations concerned in making its decisions; and
(c) if the authorities will consider amending the Hospital Authority Ordinance
in order that patient groups and the Legislative Council may elect
representatives to be members of the HA Board; if they will, of the details; if
not, what measures the authorities have put in place to ensure that members of
the HA Board and the aforesaid committees, who are appointed without pay and in
their personal capacity, can effectively monitor this huge and professional
system of HA?
Reply:
President,
(a) In the past year (i.e. from December 1, 2008 to November 30, 2009), the
Hospital Authority (HA) Board has held 12 internal meetings and four open
meetings. The 11 functional committees under the Board have held a total of 77
meetings during the same period. None of the meetings was called off due to a
lack of quorum. During the period, the overall attendance rates of two members
were below 50%. As members of the HA Main Tender Board attend the meetings on a
rotational basis, their attendance rates at the HA Main Tender Board are not
included in the above calculation.
(b) At present, the HA Board holds about four open meetings a year to discuss
and report on matters of concerns to the society and the public, such as the HA
annual plan, progress reports on the highlighted service items of HA, and the
annual report of the Public Complaints Committee and the Patient Relations
Office of the HA Head Office. Members of the public and organisations are
welcome to observe the open meetings. The purpose of the open meetings is to
enhance the transparency of the work and services of HA.
Moreover, the HA Head Office has maintained communication with the public and
patient groups through various channels. For instance, HA introduces its new
services and the development of existing services to patient groups and the
public and consults them through regular and special meetings. Also,
representatives from patient groups are currently included as members of the HA
Board, the Public Complaints Committee and the Patient Satisfaction Survey Task
Force.
At the cluster level, the Cluster Chief Executives and Hospital Chief Executives
also visit the District Councils to report on and explain matters of concerns to
patients and the public, such as the annual plan and new services of the
cluster. Besides, the hospitals maintain communication with patients and the
public through other channels, such as meeting with patient representatives,
establishing the post of Patient Relations Officer and setting up patient
resource centres, to understand their concerns and needs.
(c) HA is responsible for managing public hospitals to provide hospital and
related healthcare services to the public. Its daily operation involves a wide
range of work, including provision of medical services, financial and human
resources management, procurement, implementation of works project etc. In
appointing HA members, the Administration will carefully consider the
background, expertise, past records of public service and service experience of
each candidate. The existing mechanism effectively ensures that the HA Board has
a proper and balanced mix of individuals so that people with relevant expertise
and knowledge from different sectors can give advice to HA on different aspects
of its work. The mechanism functions smoothly and there is no need for changes.
Ends/Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Issued at HKT 12:24
NNNN