Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ12: Cataract surgery services
Following is a question by the Hon Wong Yuk-man and a written reply by
the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative
Council today (October 16):
Question:
Quite a number of elderly persons have complained to me that the waiting
time for cataract surgeries in public hospitals is exceedingly long, and
that some patients who were registered in 2008 are still waiting for the
surgeries. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether it will ask the Hospital Authority (HA) to allocate
additional resources for the Cataract Surgeries Programme to increase
the number of subvented places each year, with a view to shortening the
waiting time for cataract surgeries in public hospitals; if it will, of
the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) given that HA has set up cataract centres in Hong Kong West Cluster
and Kowloon East Cluster respectively, resulting in a drastic reduction
of the waiting time for cataract surgeries in those two clusters,
whether it knows if HA will implement similar initiatives in Kowloon
West Cluster?
Reply:
President,
Since the prevalence of cataract increases with age, it is expected that
the demand for cataract surgery will continue to grow with the ageing
population. In 2009, eye specialist out-patient clinics under the
Hospital Authority (HA) put in place measures to prioritise cataract
patients on the waiting list for surgery based on the urgency of their
clinical conditions. For urgent cases, such as patients with both eyes
suffering from cataract and with dense whitish and brownish cataract,
surgery will be arranged within two months. For patients with special
occupational needs or very poor vision in one eye, surgery will be
arranged within 12 months. For patients who are in relatively stable
clinical conditions and have better vision, follow-up consultations at
eye specialist out-patient clinics will be arranged to monitor their
development on a regular basis while they are waiting for surgery.
Apart from prioritising surgery according to the urgency of the clinical
conditions of cataract patients and introducing in 2008 the Cataract
Surgeries Programme (CSP), HA has set up cataract centres in Grantham
Hospital and Tseung Kwan O Hospital in 2009 and 2011 respectively with a
view to increasing the number of surgery. Meanwhile, HA has allocated
additional resources to various clusters to increase the number of
cataract surgery. The number of cataract surgery performed has increased
from about 17 000 in 2008-09 to about 28 000 in 2012-13 while the
notional waiting time has been shortened from 44 months in 2009 to 15
months in 2013. Moreover, HA has uploaded the notional waiting time for
cataract surgery in various clusters on HA’s website since April 2013,
so that patients may know how long they need to wait in different
clusters. Should patients want to receive treatment earlier, they may
discuss with their doctors to see whether it is suitable for them to
transfer to another hospital under HA where the waiting time for
cataract surgery is shorter.
My reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(a) Since the introduction of CSP in 2008, over 14 600 cataract
operations have been performed. The Administration has allocated the
necessary resources to HA to implement CSP by providing subsidies to
patients to undertake cataract surgery in the private sector up to 2018.
HA will closely monitor the situation and, where necessary, take
appropriate measures to further enhance the Programme having regard to
the growing service demand.
(b) At present, HA does not have plan to set up a cataract centre in the
Kowloon West Cluster (KWC). In fact, HA has allocated additional
resources to KWC, enabling the number of cataract surgery to increase
from 2 076 in 2008-09 to 2 318 in 2012-13. Among those patients waiting
for cataract surgery in KWC, 1 529 have participated in CSP.
In the future, HA will continue to implement CSP under a Public-Private
Partnership delivery model, with a view to providing sufficient
subsidised places to meet the demand of cataract surgery services in
Kowloon West and also to the entire territory. The KWC Ophthalmology
Department will keep on enhancing the transparency of its services to
facilitate patients to transfer, under appropriate circumstances, to
other clusters where the waiting time for treatment is shorter. HA will
continue to monitor closely the waiting list for cataract surgery in KWC
and take suitable measures so as to provide quality healthcare services
for patients.
Ends/Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Issued at HKT 14:43
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