Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ1: Obstetric services arrangements
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Margaret Ng and a reply by the Secretary
for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (February
22):
Question:
At present, the SAR Government implements the same policy in respect of pregnant
mainland women whose spouses are permanent residents of Hong Kong (singly
non-permanent resident pregnant women) and those whose spouses are not permanent
residents of Hong Kong (doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women) giving
birth in Hong Kong. There have been comments that children of "singly
non-permanent resident pregnant women" are children born to Hong Kong people,
and as indicated by the figures given by the Government in reply to a question
of a Member of this Council in November 2009, the number of babies born in Hong
Kong to "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" in each of the years
between 2002 and 2008 was some 7,000 to 9,000 which was not substantial, the
hospitals in Hong Kong were able to cope with them, and therefore the SAR
Government should deal with "singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" and
"doubly non-permanent resident pregnant women" separately in formulating its
policy on pregnant mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong. In this connection,
will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of babies born in Hong Kong to "singly non-permanent resident
pregnant women" in each of the years between 2009 and 2011; and
(b) whether the SAR Government will respectively formulate different policies on
"singly non-permanent resident pregnant women" and "doubly non-permanent
resident pregnant women" giving birth in Hong Kong (including measures regarding
the two aspects of quotas for obstetric services in public and private hospitals
as well as fees payable by non-local pregnant women using obstetric services in
public hospitals, etc.); if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for
that?
Reply:
President,
As far as obstetric services are concerned, it is the Government's policy to
ensure that Hong Kong residents are given proper obstetric services as well as
priority in the use of these services. The Administration is very concerned
about the surge of demand for obstetric services in Hong Kong by non-local women
(mainly from the mainland) in recent years, which have caused tremendous
pressure on the overall obstetric and neonatal care services and affected the
provision of services to local women. To ensure that local pregnant women are
given priority for obstetric services and neonatal care services, the Hospital
Authority (HA) revised the obstetric services arrangements for non-local women
in February 2007. HA would reserve sufficient places in public hospitals for
delivery by local women and public hospitals would only accept bookings from
non-local women when spare service capacity is available.
In view of the increasing demand for obstetric services in Hong Kong by local
women and the possible effects of the "Year of the Dragon", we have launched
further measures in the middle of last year to limit the number of non-local
pregnant women giving birth in Hong Kong in 2012 to 35,000. Public hospitals
will provide 3,400 delivery places for non-local women in 2012. If the demand
for obstetric services in public hospitals from local pregnant women increases,
we will further reduce or cancel all the places for non-local women in order to
cater for the service needs of local pregnant women. Once the service quotas are
full, HA will stop accepting bookings from non-local women. As for private
hospitals providing obstetric services, they will also ensure that adequate
quotas are reserved for local women, and consider reducing the number of
bookings for deliveries by non-local women in 2012 having regard to their own
circumstances. They would limit the overall quotas reserved for non-local women
to around 31,000. We estimate that there will be a nearly 20% decrease in the
number of deliveries by non-local women in Hong Kong in 2012 as compared with
2011.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) In 2009 and 2010, the numbers of live births born in Hong Kong to Mainland
women whose spouses are permanent Hong Kong residents are 6,213 and 6,169
respectively, and the number for January to November 2011 is 5,745.
(b) Hong Kong's healthcare system is provided primarily for Hong Kong residents.
For both public and private healthcare services, local residents are the key
targets of services. Our public healthcare services are heavily subsidised by
the Government at an average rate of over 95%. It is necessary for the
Administration to ensure that our public healthcare services can meet public
demand and at the same time can sustain in the long-term within the limited
financial resources. Therefore, we need to draw up eligibility criteria for
receiving the heavily subsidised public healthcare services and accord priority
to taking care of the needs of Hong Kong residents. The provision of healthcare
services for non-local residents should be limited to a level that can be
supported by our healthcare system.
Following the recommendation of the Report of the Task Force on Population
Policy released in 2003, eligibility for the heavily subsidised healthcare
services is restricted to holders of Hong Kong Identity Card or children under
11 years of age who are Hong Kong residents (i.e. Eligible Persons (EPs)).
Non-Hong Kong residents who are the spouses or children of Hong Kong residents
would be regarded as Non-eligible Persons (NEPs). These people and other
non-Hong Kong residents are provided with public healthcare services in
emergency situations and they may seek non-emergency public healthcare services
when there is spare service capacity. However, the rates of charges applicable
to NEPs will apply. Since the public healthcare services in Hong Kong are
heavily subsidised by the Government, this arrangement can help ensure the
rational use of public resources.
In addition, fees for public healthcare services are currently charged based on
the status of the patients directly receiving the services (i.e. depending on
whether the patient is an EP or not) and no consideration is given to family
relationship. As in the case of obstetric services, fees are charged based on
the status of the pregnant women, and no consideration is given to whether their
husbands are Hong Kong residents or not. Therefore, non-local women who are
spouses of Hong Kong residents are required to pay charges applicable to NEPs
when using the obstetric services in Hong Kong. At present, we have no plan to
differentiate non-local women giving birth in Hong Kong into different
categories for different treatment.
We understand that some Mainland spouses of Hong Kong residents would like to
give birth in Hong Kong. They can register for public obstetric services when
spare service capacity is available in public hospitals. We also encourage
private hospitals to provide service first to Mainland pregnant women whose
husbands are Hong Kong residents as far as possible, after they have accorded
priority to serving local pregnant women, so that these Mainland pregnant women
can choose to deliver in local private hospitals.
I would like to draw the attention of the Mainland spouses of Hong Kong
residents who intend to deliver in Hong Kong that they are required to make
prior booking at hospital before using our obstetric services. They are also
required to undergo antenatal checkups by obstetricians in Hong Kong at an
appropriate stage to assess if they are suitable to give birth in Hong Kong so
that the pregnant women and their fetuses are not subject to risks associated
with travels or other factors. We hope that the pregnant women would take their
own safety and that of their babies as their prime consideration and avoid the
dangerous behaviour of seeking emergency deliveries through Accident and
Emergency departments shortly before labour without prior booking.
Ends/Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Issued at HKT 15:30
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