Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ4: Health surveillance services
Following is a question by the
Hon Gary Fan Kwok-wai and a reply by the Secretary for Food and Health,
Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (December 18):
Question:
The Department of Health (DH) is gradually outsourcing the health
screening service (screening service) provided at immigration control
points (control points). Some health surveillance assistants (HSAs) have
indicated that they are worried about losing their jobs. They even query
that DH has adopted harsh management measures and increased their work
pressure recently, in an attempt to force them to resign so as to
implement outsourcing of screening service. For example, some of the
staff members who reside on Cheung Chau and had all along worked at the
control point in Hong Kong-Macao Ferry Terminal have been deployed to
work at the control point in Lok Ma Chau, and when they fail to spot
mainland women who are pregnant for 28 weeks or more among the
travellers arriving at Hong Kong, they will be required to write a
report to give explanations. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council:
(a) given the two recent cases of human infection of H7N9 avian
influenza which were suspected to be imported from a place outside the
territory, whether the authorities have assessed if the screening
service contractors have sufficient manpower to cope with the demand for
screening service in case of a major epidemic; if they have, of the
details of the assessment; and how the authorities monitor the quality
of the service provided by the additional staff members employed by the
contractors;
(b) of the number of non-local pregnant women spotted by HSAs through
visual inspection at the control points in the past five years, and how
the authorities assess the effectiveness of their work; and
(c) given that some HSAs have pointed out that the number of mainland
travellers visiting Hong Kong under the Individual Visit Scheme has
continuously increased in recent years, and that due to the Immigration
Department's gradual replacement of traditional counters with Automated
Passenger Clearance System (e-Channels) for immigration clearance for
travellers holding electronic Exit-Entry Permits for Travelling to and
from Hong Kong and Macao, the time for immigration clearance will be
shortened, making it increasingly difficult for them to carry out the
work of spotting non-local pregnant women through visual inspection,
whether the authorities have reviewed the manpower of HSAs and the
deployment of them to various posts, so as to alleviate the work
pressure on these staff members?
Reply:
President,
The Department of Health (DH) has since 2003 implemented health
surveillance measures at boundary control points (BCP) and developed
relevant guidelines on body temperature checking and a referral
mechanism. Trained health surveillance staff (regardless of whether they
are government employees or contractors' staff) will take immediate and
appropriate follow-up action on any suspected cases of communicable
diseases. Health surveillance stations at BCPs also serve as contact
points and provide assistance for travellers who have symptoms of
communicable diseases. They also act as health education publicity
points where disease information will be disseminated to travellers to
enhance their awareness. Through regular practice and drills, the
mechanism has been running satisfactorily.
On the other hand, DH has since 2007 been deploying Health
Surveillance Assistants (HSAs) to assist in identifying non-local
pregnant women by visual inspection at a number of BCPs. Non-local
pregnant women identified will be diverted to immigration counters or
inbound traffic lanes designated by the Immigration Department (ImmD)
for immigration clearance and checking by ImmD's officers. ImmD and DH
review the effectiveness of immigration measures relating to non-local
pregnant women from time to time and maintain close liaison for better
coordination of work.
At present, contract HSAs of the Port Health Office (PHO) under DH
conduct health surveillance at nine BCPs; whereas the work at the Hong
Kong International Airport and the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal has been
taking up by staff of service contractors. The operation has been very
smooth so far.
In accordance with the advice of the Independent Commission Against
Corruption, DH redeploys front-line staff to different BCPs on a regular
basis with a view to enhancing the department's corporate culture of
integrity. At present, HSAs who have worked at the same BCP for three
years or more will gradually be redeployed to other BCPs. In handling
the redeployment, PHO will consider the requests of individual staff and
take into account their health and family circumstances. PHO also
provides shuttle bus services to staff on duty at remote BCPs.
In response to the situation of staff wastage of HSAs and to
provide greater flexibility for the handling and provision of services,
PHO will outsource the health surveillance services at Shenzhen Bay
Control Point and Man Kam To Control Point from the end of this month.
The HSAs currently working at Shenzhen Bay Control Point and Man Kam To
Control Point will be redeployed to other BCPs according to established
arrangements. At present, DH does not have any timetable for outsourcing
health surveillance services at other BCPs.
I would like to emphasise once again that DH's arrangement in
outsourcing health surveillance services will not affect the employment
contracts, contract terms and contract renewal arrangements of existing
HSAs. Since the beginning of this year, PHO has been explaining and
discussing this arrangement with all HSAs through interviews, meetings
in groups and internal publications, etc., and repeatedly emphasising
that existing staff will not have their contracts affected.
My reply to Hon Gary Fan's questions is as follows:
(a) DH will provide necessary training for all staff engaging in health
surveillance work (be they government employees or staff employed by
contractors). Training will cover temperature checks, infection control
measures, the wearing of protective equipment and the conduct of health
checks for people with fevers, etc.
Service contractors are required to arrange a sufficient number of
trained staff to cope with the work. In response to emergency situation
where redeployment of large amount of manpower may be required in short
period of time, DH and the contractors have arranged for a large number
of contractor staff to be trained for health surveillance work in
advance
DH also regularly assesses the performance of the service
contractor staff and their ability in handle emergencies.
We believe that both DH's contract HSAs and service contractor
staff are able to provide services upon receiving training and
accumulating experience through actual practice.
(b) and (c) To complement the implementation of the zero delivery quota
policy for Mainland pregnant women whose husbands are not Hong Kong
residents, the Administration has stepped up inspection of Mainland
pregnant women at BCPs. Currently, Mainland pregnant women who are
pregnant for 28 weeks or more must produce a Confirmation Certificate on
Delivery Booking issued by hospitals in Hong Kong for checking by
immigration officers when they enter Hong Kong or else they may be
refused entry.
In terms of immigration inspection, HSAs of DH are responsible for
conducting visual inspection at some BCPs. Suspected cases would be
diverted to appropriate immigration counters of the Hong Kong side for
follow up by ImmD's officers. Since the above visual inspection is
conducted in the walkway leading to immigration counters of Hong Kong,
it would not be affected by the usage of e-Channels.
The numbers of passenger cases referred by HSAs of DH in the past
five years are listed in Annex.
The number of Mainland pregnant women gate-crashing Hong Kong
hospitals for delivery without prior booking has dropped substantially
from 150 per month during the period between September and December 2011
to only 20 per month during the period between January and November
2013. DH will continue to deploy manpower in accordance with the
operational needs of BCPs.
Ends/Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:38
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