Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ16 : Patients remained in hospital after being diagnosed to be clinically fit to be discharged
Following is a question by the Professor Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by
the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council
today (May 11):
Question:
Will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(1) the respective annual numbers of public hospital patients in 2014 and 2015
who remained in hospital for three months or more after being diagnosed to be
clinically fit to be discharged, and set out in the table in Annex a breakdown
by the age and condition of such patients;
(2) a breakdown of the number of patients mentioned in (1) by reason for
overstaying in hospitals; among these patients, the number of those who still
remain in hospital at present, with a breakdown by the year in which they were
diagnosed to be clinically fit to be discharged; and
(3) the measures currently adopted by the Hospital Authority or relevant
government departments to assist patients overstaying in public hospitals to be
discharged as soon as possible, and the expenditure so incurred in the past two
years; among the patients mentioned in (1), the number of those who, with the
assistance provided under such measures, have already been discharged or have
committed to a definite discharge date so far?
Reply:
President,
The following is my consolidated reply to the various parts of the question
raised by the Professor Hon Joseph Lee relating to the cases where patients
remained in hospital after being diagnosed to be clinically fit to be
discharged.
There are many reasons for patients to remain in public hospitals even after
being diagnosed to be clinically fit to be discharged. The Hospital Authority
(HA) does not maintain statistical record on these patients by age, category,
reason for remaining in hospital and the year in which they were diagnosed to be
clinically fit to be discharged. In order to facilitate the effective handling
of the cases of these patients by the hospitals, the HA has put in place a set
of guidelines on the procedures and points to note in handling such cases. The
hospitals will maintain good communication with the relevant parties, and review
and follow up on the cases in a regular manner.
In handling such cases, the hospital concerned will set up working groups where
necessary to follow up on individual cases. Members of the working group for
each case include representatives from the hospital management, healthcare
professionals, social workers, Patient Relations Officers and representatives
from other government departments which may provide assistance. To cater for the
patient's needs, family members of the patient will also be invited to attend
meetings of the working group so that a discharge date and appropriate discharge
arrangements can be discussed and determined. The hospitals will review and
follow up on the progress of these cases closely to help the patients in their
discharge from hospitals as soon as possible.
Since the cost of the above measures is covered by the day-to-day operating
expenditure of the hospitals, the HA does not have the information on the
expenditure for the relevant measures for the past two years. Neither does the
HA have the statistics on patients who, after receiving assistance through the
above measures, have been discharged or have committed to a definite discharge
date.
Ends/Wednesday, May 11, 2016
Issued at HKT 15:10
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LCQ16 Annex