Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ22: Mammography service provided by Hospital Authority
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Leung Ka-lau and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(November 25):
Question:
According to statistics, the waiting time for patients to receive mammography at
public hospitals is getting longer and longer, and the waiting time for patients
in different hospital clusters (clusters) vary. The authorities have indicated
that those patients belonging to groups with a higher risk of developing breast
cancer will be accorded priority for receiving such examination. In this
connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:
(1) in respect of the Hospital Authority (HA) as a whole and individual clusters
respectively and among the patients receiving mammography in each of the past
five financial years, the numbers of unconfirmed patients (and the percentages
of such numbers in the total number of patients receiving mammography), a
breakdown of the numbers of confirmed patients by stage of breast cancer (and
the respective percentages of such numbers in the total number of patients
receiving mammography), and the respective numbers of patients who, prior to
receiving mammography, had waited for (i) 60 days or less, (ii) 61 to 180 days,
(iii) 181 to 360 days, (iv) 361 to 540 days and (v) 541 days or more (set out in
tables of the same format as Annex 1);
(2) in respect of HA as a whole and individual clusters respectively, the
numbers of patients receiving mammography in each of the past five financial
years, broken down by age group ((i) 0-44, (ii) 45-54, (iii) 55-64, (iv) 65-74
and (v) 75 or above) (set out in tables of the same format as Annex 2;
(3) the criteria adopted by HA's doctors for determining whether a patient
belongs to the priority groups; whether the various clusters have adopted the
same criteria; among the patients who were determined as belonging to the
priority groups last year, the number and percentage of those who had been
arranged to receive mammography within two months (with a tabulated breakdown by
HA as a whole and individual clusters);
(4) whether HA has set up a referral arrangement so that patients belonging to
the same risk group are given the choice of being referred to hospitals in other
clusters with shorter waiting time to receive mammography; if HA has, of the
details; if HA has not, the reasons for that;
(5) whether HA will consider including mammography in the Public-Private
Partnership programmes; if HA will, of the details; if HA will not, the reasons
for that; and
(6) the age-standardised incidence rates of breast cancer in female in 2013 and
2014?
Reply:
President,
The Hospital Authority (HA) performs mammography for patients in need to assist
diagnosis and treatment. My reply to various parts of the question raised by Dr
Hon Leung Ka-lau on mammography service is as follows:
(1) and (2) As HA does not maintain statistics on the number of patients who are
confirmed to have breast cancer after receiving mammography, we are unable to
provide a breakdown of the relevant number of confirmed and unconfirmed
patients.
As for the waiting time for receiving mammography, the statistics kept by HA use
the percentile of the waiting time of all patients receiving mammography as the
basis for classification. HA has only kept the statistical information of
mammography since 2011-12. Annex 3 sets out the 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th
percentiles of the waiting time of patients for receiving mammography in each
cluster in the past four years. The number of attendances of patients receiving
mammography in each cluster in the past four years is set out in Annex 4.
HA does not maintain separate statistics on the number of patients receiving
mammography by age group.
(3) HA's doctors arrange mammography examination for patients according to the
medical assessment of their conditions. Those patients who are confirmed or
suspected of having breast cancer, or who belong to the high-risk group of
having breast cancer will be accorded priority for receiving mammography. In
2014, around 95 per cent of patients who were accorded priority received
mammography within two months. HA does not keep separate statistics on the
breakdown of such patients by cluster.
(4) For better patient care, HA arranges patients who are accorded priority to
receive mammography and laboratory tests performed by the relevant clinical
management team in the patients' cluster, so as to have more effective
co-ordination and support. For patients who are in the routine category, HA is
now further exploring the feasibility of referring them to other clusters for
examination. If, after exploration, it is ascertained that such an arrangement
help improve the service for these patients, HA will take follow-up action as
appropriate.
(5) HA values its collaboration with the private healthcare sector and has
implemented a series of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programmes since 2008.
In contemplating clinical PPP programmes, HA will conduct rigorous assessment
and widely consult the healthcare sector as well as the public. It will also
strike a balance among various consideration factors, such as the feasibility of
the proposed programme, service demand, risk assessment, and available support
from private healthcare providers, patients and other stakeholders. HA will
maintain close communication with the public and patients, and work closely with
the relevant stakeholders, with a view to exploring the possibility of
developing more PPP programmes in the future.
(6) At present, HA does not have the age-standardised incidence rates of breast
cancer per 100 000 female population in 2013 and 2014. In 2011 and 2012, the
relevant figures were 56.6 and 56.7 respectively.
Ends/Wednesday, November 25, 2015
Issued at HKT 12:49
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LCQ22 Annex 1
LCQ22 Annex 2
LCQ22 Annex 3
LCQ22 Annex 4