Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ9: Healthcare services of Kowloon East cluster
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-kin and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today
(June 23):
Question:
In November 2007, the Chief Executive in Council approved the Kai Tak Outline
Zoning Plan, in which 7.6 hectares of land have been reserved for the
construction of a hospital. In this connection, will the Government inform this
Council of:
(a) the latest progress of the new hospital construction project, including the
expected completion time; whether the relevant feasibility study has been
completed; if so, of the outcome of the study; if not, the expected completion
time;
(b) the scale and scope of services of the proposed new hospital, as well as the
estimated percentage of the resources to be received by the new hospital in
those of the Kowloon East Hospital Cluster; whether the authorities will
allocate more resources to the Kowloon East Hospital Cluster for the new
hospital; and
(c) the population in the district whose service demands can be met by the
public healthcare services provided in Kowloon East at present; the expected
average attendances of the new hospital per annum upon its completion, and how
this will tie in with the service demands in the district?
Reply:
President,
(a) & (b) About seven hectares of land has been reserved for hospital
development under the Kai Tak Development. The departments concerned and the
Hospital Authority (HA) are undertaking studies and preliminary planning on the
hospital development project. Details of the project, including the scale,
service scope and facilities of the hospital are yet to be finalised at this
stage. The Government will consider the project in accordance with the
established mechanism.
(c) According to the Government's projections of population distribution, the
population of the Kowloon East (KE) cluster will increase by about 6% to 1.03
million in 2015, as compared with 2010. Of them, 14% are aged 65 or above, 17%
are youths aged 0-19, and the remaining 69% are aged 20-64.
HA will regularly review the services of the cluster having regard to the
demographic changes, increase in service demand and service utilisation in the
region, and will plan for the services and facilities of the cluster as
necessary. To cope with the increasing service demand in the region, HA has
allocated additional resources over the past few years for service improvement
of the KE cluster. In 2010-11, HA has allocated an additional funding of $47.5
million for the KE cluster to open additional beds and implement a number of
service improvement initiatives. These include provision of additional cataract
surgeries, enhancement of clinical oncology services, and introduction of
palliative care for patients with end stage renal disease etc.
On the other hand, the expansion of Tseung Kwan O Hospital will be completed in
2013. The number of inpatient beds and day beds in the Hospital will increase to
636 and 140 respectively by then. Besides, the number of consultation rooms in
the specialist out-patient department will increase to 70, and the number of
attendances is expected to increase to 250,000 per annum. Other services and
facilities of the hospital will also be expanded accordingly to cope with the
additional demand arising from the extra beds and enhanced ambulatory care
services. HA will continue to closely monitor the service demand in the region
and make necessary arrangements in resource allocation, so as to provide
appropriate healthcare services for the residents.
Ends/Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Issued at HKT 13:00
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