Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ5: Tin Shui Wai Hospital
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Kwok-hing and a reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November
17):
Question:
In his Policy Address delivered on October 13, 2010, the Chief Executive has
mentioned that to meet the increasing demand for healthcare services in Tin Shui
Wai, the authorities have decided to build a new hospital in the area, which is
expected to be completed in 2016. In this connection, will the Government inform
this Council:
(a) given that the Secretary for Food and Health said last year that Tin Shui
Wai Hospital was expected to be completed and to come into operation in 2015,
but now the expected completion date will be delayed for one year, of the
reasons for that; whether the authorities have corresponding measures to meet
residents' needs for public healthcare services during the extended period for
completion of the hospital, and to shorten the construction time of the hospital
to strive for its completion in 2015;
(b) when the authorities will make a decision on the site of the hospital; of
the details of the hospital's design as well as the facilities and services to
be provided, including the number of beds and whether out-patient services for
traditional Chinese medicine will be available, etc.; the estimated number of
residents the hospital can serve, and whether it can meet the needs of the
population in Yuen Long and Tin Shui Wai; and
(c) whether the authorities will consider recruiting, as far as possible,
suitable candidates from the unemployed in the district for the jobs created by
the hospital in the future, so as to alleviate the employment problems in the
district?
Reply:
President,
(a) To strengthen the provision of healthcare services in Tin Shui Wai (TSW) New
Town, which has seen rapid development in recent years, we plan to build a
public hospital in TSW. As the proposed hospital site is situated in an area
which may contain marble cavity, a longer construction period is usually
required for completion of the foundation works. Under such circumstances, it is
expected that the completion date of the hospital will be slightly put back for
a few months to mid-2016. We will expedite the planning of the works as far as
circumstances permit in an effort to complete the construction works as early as
possible.
Before completion of the new hospital, healthcare services for TSW residents
will continue to be provided by hospitals and related specialist out-patient
clinics and general out-patient clinics under the New Territories West Cluster (NTWC).
In the past few years, the Hospital Authority (HA) has provided additional
funding to NTWC to enhance the healthcare services for residents of New
Territories West. For instance, in the two years of 2009-10 and 2010-11,
services provided by Pok Oi Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital have been expanded,
including provision of some 220 additional beds, an increase of 20 operating
theatre sessions per week in Pok Oi Hospital, installation of a second magnetic
resonance imaging scanner in Tuen Mun Hospital to shorten patients' waiting time
for examination, and strengthening of cataract service.
Besides, NTWC has strengthened its ambulatory and community-based services such
as expansion of its haemodialysis services and services provided by its
chemotherapy day centre, implementation of a community-based Case Management
Programme for persons with severe mental illness, strengthening of psychiatric
specialist out-patient services for children and youths, expansion of
psychogeriatric outreach services for the elderly to cover private residential
care homes for the elderly, implementation of an integrated discharge support
programme to provide post-discharge support services to those high-risk elderly
who have difficulty in taking care of themselves, and enhancement of the
services of the substance abuse clinic.
NTWC will continue to closely monitor TSW residents' demand for healthcare
services and ensure that they can receive appropriate treatment before the
completion of the new hospital.
(b) On November 4, 2010, we obtained the support of the Yuen Long District
Council (the Culture, Recreation, Community Service and Housing Committee) to
construct the TSW Hospital at the site in TSW Area 32. To expedite the project
works, the Architectural Services Department will adopt a "design-and-build"
approach (both design and construction to be undertaken by the same contractor)
for the construction of TSW Hospital. In addition, for more accurate project
cost estimation, we will first conduct a contractor prequalification exercise
for the project, and proceed with the tendering procedures upon completion of
the prequalification exercise. We will then seek funding approval from the
Legislative Council based on the tender price.
Upon commissioning, TSW Hospital will become one of the hospitals under NTWC,
which serves Yuen Long and Tuen Mun districts. NTWC will continue to make
optimal use of its resources to provide services according to priorities based
on the needs for medical services in the community. The development potentials
of NTWC will also be maximised by utilising the strengths of TSW Hospital and
other hospitals under NTWC to complement each other to provide the most
appropriate treatment to local residents. Under the current plan, the main
facilities and services to be provided at TSW Hospital include: 250 to 300 beds
to provide in-patient services (for emergency medicine, rehabilitation,
convalescent and palliative care); an accident and emergency department; a
number of ambulatory services (including a specialist out-patient clinic (which
provides family medicine and psychiatric services), a general out-patient
clinic, a haemodialysis centre, a geriatric day hospital, a psychiatric day
hospital, hospice day care, daytime rehabilitation services and an endoscopy
suite); various community care services (including community nursing/community
geriatric assessment, community rehabilitation services, psychiatric outreach
services, medical social work, and a health resource centre); and such support
services as laboratory and diagnostic radiological services. Based on the
projected population growth in NTWC, the total number of beds within the cluster
upon completion of the new hospital should be able to meet the service demands
arising from the increase in population.
On Chinese medicine services, the Government's objectives are to develop
standards in Chinese medicine practice, to systematise the knowledge base of
Chinese medicine through, amongst others, clinical research and to provide
training in "evidence-based" Chinese medicine. To achieve these objectives, the
Government will establish in phases one public Chinese medicine clinic (CMC) in
each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong. The CMC serving Yuen Long district
(including TSW) is located on 3/F, Yuen Long Madam Yung Fung Shee Health Centre.
As there is already a CMC in Yuen Long district, we have no plan to set up an
additional CMC in TSW Hospital.
Apart from the construction of TSW Hospital, NTWC has also launched new mode of
service delivery by setting up a nurse and allied health clinic inside a general
out-patient clinic to follow-up on the treatment of chronic patients, setting up
a Centre for Healthy Life to enhance psychosocial services for patients
suffering from cancer and other chronic illnesses.
To cope with the increasing demand for healthcare services in Yuen Long and TSW,
NTWC will in the coming years continue to closely monitor and assess the
residents' demand and enhance its services, including provision of additional
beds in Pok Oi Hospital by phases, and construction of an integrated building in
TSW Area 109. The integrated building is scheduled to come into full operation
in 2012-13 for provision of a general out-patient clinic, a family medicine
integrated clinic, visiting services by community nurses and community
psychiatric nurses, and an allied health clinic offering physiotherapy service,
occupational therapy service and services provided by registered dieticians.
(c) On the recruitment of staff, HA will choose suitable and capable candidates
to take up the posts. The entry requirements are different for different grades
of HA staff, including healthcare personnel and clerical staff, general services
and technical services assistants, etc. We understand that most of the job
seekers prefer to work in the area where they live, especially those unemployed
who are usually engaged in supporting work. HA will keep the matter in view and
welcome suitable persons to join and work in TSW Hospital in future.
Ends/Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:06
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