Replies to LegCo questions
LEGCO QUESTION NO.7 (Written Reply)
Asked by: |
Hon Michael HO |
Date of meeting : |
10 November 1999 |
|
Replied by : |
Secretary for Health and Welfare |
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Question
Regarding the specialist out-patient services provided by the Hospital Authority ("HA"), will the Government inform this Council :
(a) whether it knows the 10 specialist
out-patient services with the longest average waiting time for first appointments at
present; for each of the above specialist out-patient services,
(i) the annual number of first appointments;
(ii) the average and the longest waiting times for first appointments; and
(iii) the hospital which had the longest waiting time;
in the past three years;
(b) of the measures, as stated in the Policy Objective published this year, introduced to increase the number of consultations for first appointments, and whether it has assessed the effectiveness of such measures;
(c) whether it knows how the HA is strengthening the co-ordinating mechanism for referring patients of its specialist out-patient clinics, whose condition has become stable, to the Department of Health and private medical practitioners for follow-up treatment, so as to relieve the pressure on specialist out-patient services; of the respective numbers of such referrals to the Department of Health and private medical practitioners in each of the past three years; and
(d) given that the average time for first appointments at specialist out-patient clinics is about three months at present, of the basis for making a pledge in the Policy Objective this year to reduce the average waiting time to five weeks in the year 2000?
Reply
Madam President,
(a) At present, the 10 specialist outpatient services with the longest notional average waiting time for first appointments at the specialist outpatient clinics of the Hospital Authority (HA) are – Ophthalmology; Orthopaedics & Trauma; Medicine; Surgery; Ear, Nose & Throat; Gynaecology; Psychiatry; Paediatrics; Neurosurgery; and Cardiothoracic Surgery.
For each of the above specialist outpatient services, (i) the annual number of first appointments; (ii) the notional average waiting time for first appointments; and (iii) the hospitals which had the longest notional average waiting time in the past three years are provided at Annex 1.
HA has not, in the past three years, systematically collected information showing the longest waiting time for first appointments on individual case basis.
(b) HA has implemented various improvement measures to shorten the waiting time for first appointments at its specialist outpatient clinics. Apart from deploying additional resources and manpower for the provision of specialist outpatient services, HA has also introduced various pilot improvement measures, in order to streamline and expedite treatment processes and increase the throughput at the specialist outpatient clinics. These measures include –
(i) Arranging for doctors undergoing family medicine training to provide treatment for patients – HA has arranged for doctors undergoing family medicine training to provide treatment at the specialist outpatient clinics and other clinics for patients who are in stabilised clinical conditions. This arrangement can reduce the number of patients waiting to be treated at the specialist outpatient clinics;
(ii) Setting up fast track clinics – Patients who have been triaged to be in more urgent conditions will be referred to fast track clinics for treatment. This can ensure that these patients will receive appropriate treatment promptly; and
(iii) Enhancing co-operation with general practitioners – HA and general practitioners will, through the use of standardised clinical protocol, enable patients, who are referred from general practitioners to HA’s specialist outpatient clinics, to receive treatment from doctors immediately, without having to go through preliminary examinations or other tests again. This can reduce patients’ waiting time for consultation.
According to information provided by HA in relation to the period from April to September 1999 (at Annex 2), the notional average waiting time for first appointments at HA’s specialist outpatient clinics has been shortened as a result of the implementation of the above measures.
(c) HA will continue to maintain regular liaison with the Department of Health (DH) and private practitioners, to facilitate the referral of patients in stabilised clinical conditions, who no longer require specialist care, to DH’s general outpatient clinics or private practitioners’ clinics for treatment. HA has also arranged for doctors undergoing family medicine training to provide outpatient services for patients in stabilised conditions, so as to relieve the pressure of its specialist outpatient clinics.
HA does not have information on the number of patients referred from HA’s specialist outpatient clinics to DH or private practitioners for follow-up treatment in the past three years.
(d) At present, the notional average waiting time for first appointments at the specialist outpatient clinics under HA is about 10 weeks. HA will continue to implement the various improvement measures as stated in (b) above, and depending on circumstances, deploy more resources for the provision of specialist outpatient services. HA is confident in achieving the target notional average waiting time for first appointments of five weeks by the end of the year 2000.
Annex 1: Statistics on the specialist outpatient waiting time from 96-97 to 98-99
Specialties |
96-97 |
97-98 |
98-99 |
||||||
Number of first appointments |
Average notional waiting time for first appointments (weeks) |
Clinic with the longest notional average waiting time for first appointments |
Number of first appointments |
Average notional waiting time for first appointments (weeks) |
Clinic with the longest notional average waiting time for first appointments |
Number of first appointments |
Average notional waiting time for first appointments (weeks) |
Clinic with the longest notional average waiting time for first appointments |
|
Ophthalmology |
76,777 |
21.6 |
Pamela Youde Polyclinic |
95,572 |
19.5 |
Pamela Youde Polyclinic |
118,584 |
17.1 |
Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital |
Orthopaedics & Trauma |
57,060 |
13.8 |
Sai Ying Pun Specialist Clinic |
62,603 |
15.0 |
Tung Wah Eastern Hospital |
69,524 |
13.8 |
Pok Oi Hospital |
Medicine |
74,055 |
14.9 |
Fanling Hospital |
86,962 |
12.9 |
Fanling Hospital |
101,480 |
11.8 |
Tang Chi Ngong Specialist Clinic |
Surgery |
92,212 |
11.7 |
Tuen Mun Polyclinic |
97,318 |
13.2 |
United Christian Hospital |
109,734 |
11.4 |
United Christian Hospital |
Ear, Nose and Throat |
56,708 |
6.4 |
Fanling Hospital |
61,544 |
6.0 |
United Christian Hospital |
61,531 |
8.4 |
North District Hospital |
Gynaecology |
39,996 |
8.6 |
Fanling Hospital |
42,997 |
8.2 |
Fanling Hospital |
47,439 |
9.5 |
North District Hospital |
Psychiatry |
12,843 |
8.8 |
Fanling Hospital |
15,060 |
8.9 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
18,023 |
10.5 |
Tuen Mun Polyclinic |
Paediatrics |
21,363 |
7.7 |
Fanling Hospital |
22,536 |
6.1 |
Fanling Hospital |
22,701 |
6.8 |
Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital |
Neurosurgery |
2,493 |
2.4 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
3,031 |
5.1 |
Kwong Wah Hospital |
3,318 |
3.3 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
Cardiothoracic Surgery |
977 |
1.3 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
1,089 |
1.2 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
1,079 |
1.0 |
Prince of Wales Hospital |
Annex 2: Statistics on the specialist outpatient waiting time from April to September 1999
Specialties |
Number of specialist outpatient first appointments from April to September 99 |
Notional average waiting time for first appointments (weeks) |
|
Apr 99 |
Sep 99 |
||
Ophthalmology |
59,322 |
15.9 |
14.1 |
Orthopaedics & Trauma |
35,663 |
15.5 |
11.5 |
Medicine |
52,704 |
13.6 |
10.7 |
Surgery |
57,192 |
11.4 |
9.8 |
Ear, Nose and Throat |
31,646 |
9.6 |
9.8 |
Gynaecology |
27,043 |
10.3 |
7.9 |
Psychiatry |
9,916 |
8.8 |
6.6 |
Paediatrics |
10,512 |
6.9 |
5.3 |
Neurosurgery |
1,749 |
3.5 |
2.8 |
Cardiothoracic Surgery |
605 |
1.4 |
2.3 |