The Centre for Food Safety (CFS) of the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department announced today (June 26) that aquatic products from a regulated Japanese prefecture were suspected to be in breach of the relevant Food Safety Order … read more
Following is a question by Professor the Hon Priscilla Leung and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (June 26):
Question:
It has been reported that the situation of Hong Kong residents returning to Hong Kong for medical treatment after settling overseas for years has persisted for a long while. Among such residents, many are patients suffering from catastrophic illnesses such as cancer, and some of them are referred to public hospitals for further treatment after receiving preliminary treatment in private hospitals. Regarding the manpower and resources for public healthcare services, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) as a professor of a medical school at a university has reportedly pointed out that the number of patients returning to Hong Kong for medical treatment has slightly increased by 5% to 10% in recent years, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the exact figures and assessed if the existing manpower and resources for public hospitals can cope with the increase in the number of such patients;
(2) as the Secretary for Health indicated in a media interview in August last year that more than half of the local doctors were practising in the private market, serving about 13% of the patients in Hong Kong, which in effect means that less than half of the local doctors were practising under the public healthcare system, taking care of nearly 90% of the patients in Hong Kong, whether the Government has compiled statistics on the latest figures and formulated corresponding plans; and
(3) as it has been reported that a survey conducted by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 2019 found that over 70% of the local young doctors interviewed showed signs of overexertion at work, and more than 20% of the doctors interviewed even had the problem of depression, whether the Government has gained an understanding of the actual situation and what corresponding plans it has put in place?
Reply:
President,
I would like to express my gratitude to Professor the Hon Priscilla Leung for her question on public healthcare manpower and resources. This is also our issue of concern. In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the consolidated reply to the question is as follows:
(1) Public healthcare is the cornerstone and safety net of the healthcare system of Hong Kong. As the backbone of the public healthcare system, the HA provides healthcare services heavily subsided by the Government at an average level over 97 per cent and is positioned to serve disadvantaged groups, provide acute and emergency healthcare services, provide treatments for severe diseases and those involving complex procedures, as well as support teaching, training and scientific research, etc.
At present, all holders of a valid Hong Kong Identity Card and children under 11 years of age who are Hong Kong residents can use subsidised public healthcare services as Eligible Persons (EPs). There is no requirement for service users to ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. The HA does not collect information on whether individual patients ordinarily reside in Hong Kong, nor does it compile statistics on the utilisation of public healthcare services by EPs who do not ordinarily reside in Hong Kong. At present, we cannot ascertain whether a large number of EPs who have moved to overseas earlier and returned to Hong Kong are using public healthcare services. The definition of EPs form part of the policy of fees and charges for public healthcare services. When reviewing the relevant policy according to the related mechanisms, the Government and the HA will keep in view changes to the patterns of residents in moving to the Mainland or overseas, as well as make reference to the subsidisation policies of other public services and social welfare.
(2) and (3) As at March 31, 2024, there are 16 459 doctors in Hong Kong, i.e. only 2.16 doctors per 1 000 persons, a ratio far lower than that of other advanced economies. While the public and private sectors each has around half of the doctor manpower, the public healthcare system provides 90 per cent of in-patient services in Hong Kong. It is generally undisputed that there is a shortage of healthcare manpower in Hong Kong and the workload of healthcare professionals is immense. I would first like to express my sincere gratitude to all healthcare staff, especially those working in the public healthcare system, for their unfailing efforts in providing efficient and appropriate services to the public.
To relieve the burden on the public healthcare system, especially the stress of healthcare professionals in public hospitals, the Government is committed to implementing a series of measures including development of primary healthcare, strengthening resources and manpower, as well as improving service efficiency. The Primary Healthcare Blueprint promotes prevention-oriented, community-based and family-centric strategies, while strengthening “Family Doctor for All” and focusing on early identification and early treatment, with a view to improving the overall health status of the population and establishing a sustainable healthcare system.
To strengthen resources and manpower, the Government has stepped up the investment of resources in training of healthcare professionals in recent years. The training capacity for various healthcare professions has increased significantly by 50 per cent in six years from about 4 000 in 2017-18 to about 6 000 in 2023-24. Apart from the creation of new pathways for the admission of non-locally trained doctors through the earlier amendment to the Medical Registration Ordinance, we have also successively introduced bills to the Legislative Council to create new pathways for the admission of non-locally trained nurses and dentists. We are also exploring the admission of qualified non-locally trained supplementary medical professionals for working in the HA and the Department of Health. We will propose legislative amendments as soon as possible.
The HA also established the Task Group on Sustainability earlier to review various challenges including manpower shortage, as well as formulate strategies and implement various measures to attract, train and retain talents. These include enhancing recruitment of local graduates, re-hiring retired staff and recruiting non-locally trained doctors and part-time staff, while enhancing training and promotion opportunities as well as launching the Enhanced Home Loan Interest Subsidy Scheme, etc. The relevant measures have started to yield results. The number of doctors in the HA has increased by more than 260 in 2023-24 as compared with the previous year, and the attrition rate has also dropped from 8.1 per cent in 2021-22 to 5.2 per cent in 2023-24.
The physical and mental health of doctors is closely related to the provision of quality healthcare services. The Government values the survey conducted by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM) five years ago in 2019 as mentioned in the question. In view of the survey result, the HKAM launched the Well-being Charter in 2021 to put more emphasis on the promotion of the physical and mental health of healthcare staff through the ASAP model, namely “A” for Awareness, “S” for Self-care, “A” for Ask for help and “P” for Promotion of well-beings, so as to effectively prevent stress and overwork. The HKAM also established the Task Force on Well-being for planning and implementing various measures. These include measuring different aspects of work-related burnout and exhaustion through the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory questionnaire; recruiting peer supporters who learn about relevant support tips and practical skills through the training course designed by the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists; and organising diversified outdoor sports and recreation activities to help doctors relieve fatigue and stress.
The HA also puts great emphasis on the mental health of their staff. The Oasis of the Corporate Clinical Psychology Services under the HA Head Office, the eight Critical Incident Psychological Services Centres in the clusters and a total of 30 Critical Incident Support Teams in various hospitals are committed to providing various mental health services to employees, including individual counselling, treatment groups, critical incident psychological services and mental health promotion, etc, thereby enhancing colleagues’ mental health and resilience.
Apart from those measures targeting the mental health of healthcare staff, with measures to attract and retain talents gradually proving effective, the manpower situation and the work pressure of healthcare staff will also be improved. The HA will develop smart healthcare to continuously improve service quality and enhance efficiency. The HA will also continue to closely monitor the manpower situation as well as the stress and mental health of healthcare personnel, and proactively adopt measures to support overall service demand and development. read more
Following is a question by the Hon Nixie Lam and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (June 26):
Question:
In the discussion paper on “eHealth+” development submitted to the Panel on Health Services of this Council in February this year, the Government pointed out that there were a total of some six million people who had registered with the Electronic Health Record Sharing System (eHealth) last year, but the electronic health records uploaded by private healthcare institutions remained extremely low in quantity, representing less than one per cent. In addition, eligible cancer patients receiving treatment under the Hospital Authority (HA) can join the Project on Enhancing Radiological Investigation Services through Collaboration with the Private Sector (the Radi Collaboration Project), and be referred to private healthcare institutions for receiving radiological diagnostic examinations. However, quite a number of members of the public have relayed that after they undergo radiological diagnosis examinations at private healthcare institutions (e.g. private doctors, private hospitals, clinics or radiological examination centres), the relevant radiology images and medical records are not uploaded to eHealth in a timely manner, which affects their subsequent follow-up consultations in public hospitals. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) whether it knows the usage of and waiting time for Computed Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Ultrasonography and Positron Emission Tomography in various hospital clusters, as well as the respective numbers of patients who underwent radiological diagnosis examinations under the Radi Collaboration Project and at their own expense in each of the past five years;
(2) of the current number of private healthcare institutions which have registered to participate in eHealth;
(3) among the current electronic health records uploaded to eHealth, of the number of those uploaded by private doctors, and its proportion in the total number of electronic health records; and
(4) of the current number of eHealth users who have given “sharing consent” to private healthcare institutions for accessing and uploading their medical records, as well as its proportion in the total number of registered eHealth users; whether private healthcare institutions are currently required to upload their patients’ medical records to eHealth or HA’s Clinical Management System within a specified time limit; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
Officially launched in 2016, eHealth is a city-wide electronic health records (eHRs) sharing platform developed by the Government, enabling participating citizens to authorise healthcare providers (HCPs) in the public and private sectors to access and deposit their eHRs in eHealth. eHealth has undergone two stages of development. As of the end of May 2024, there are approximately six million registered individual users on eHealth, covering nearly 80 per cent of the total population in Hong Kong.
Building on this sound foundation, the Government announced in the Policy Address 2023 a five-year plan of eHealth+ to transform eHealth into a comprehensive healthcare information infrastructure that integrates multiple functions of healthcare data sharing, service delivery and care journey management. eHealth+ aims to bring about a more seamless and personalised care journey for each citizen, and facilitate care co-ordination, cross-sector collaboration, as well as health management and surveillance, enabling citizens to receive better healthcare services and supporting various healthcare policies more effectively. The Government will take forward eHealth+ development in accordance with four strategic directions, namely One Health Record, One Care Journey, One Digital Front Door to Empowering Tool and One Health Data Repository.
In particular, the eHRs of citizens that are spread across a multitude of healthcare processes will be consolidated into their personal eHealth accounts under the strategic direction of One Health Record. A comprehensive and complete eHR profile enables citizens and HCPs to make informed decisions and respond to the health needs of citizens more effectively, thus providing more accurate diagnoses and saving the costs of care. eHealth+ will also gradually establish a population-wide health data bank of Hong Kong people, enabling the Government to formulate more comprehensive, precise and evidence-based healthcare policies, thereby allocating resources more effectively. Besides, the dataset will support clinical research and trials, promoting Hong Kong to become a hub for medical innovation.
In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the reply to the question raised by the Hon Nixie Lam is as follows:
(1) The annual service amount and waiting time for Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Ultrasonography and Positron Emission Tomography in each HA’s hospital cluster and the service amount of the Project on Enhancing Radiological Investigation Services through Collaboration with the Private Sector (Radi Collaboration project) in the past five years are at Annex. The HA does not maintain the number of patients’ self-financed diagnostic check-up cases.
(2) & (3) As of the end of May 2024, all local public hospitals and clinics, 13 private hospitals, and over 3 060 private HCPs are registered on eHealth, covering more than 5 550 service locations. Of those, 86 HCPs (including private hospitals and imaging diagnostic centres) provide radiological imaging services, covering 156 service locations.
Currently, there are over 4.02 billion sharable eHRs on eHealth. The average amount of eHRs accessed by HCPs per month has steadily increased, with monthly average views over the past three months reaching 220 000. In 2023, over 60 per cent of the views were from private HCPs. Nevertheless, despite the very high participation rate of the private sector, nearly all (over 99 per cent) of the sharable eHRs on eHealth came from public HCPs. The low deposit rate of private HCPs has become a major obstacle to citizens receiving continued care.
In fact, most private HCPs already have mature IT systems, which can meet the technical and security requirements to connect their system to eHealth to deposit citizens’ health records. The Government will continue to encourage private HCPs to deposit citizens’ eHRs to eHealth through a multi-pronged approach, with a view to creating a comprehensive health record profile for every citizen.
The Government is implementing the eHealth Adoption Sponsorship Pilot Scheme by collaborating with clinical management system (CMS) solution vendors and medical groups to improve their systems, which will enable private healthcare professionals to seamlessly deposit health records to eHealth through their original CMS. The Pilot Scheme is progressing well. Around 400 private doctors have completed connection to eHealth and uploaded more than 430 000 eHRs in total as of the end of May 2024. The Government will continue to provide technical and financial support, and expand the scheme to more HCPs and professions, including Chinese medicine practitioners, medical laboratories and dental care providers, in order to promote the seamless connection between eHealth and the electronic medical management systems used in the market. Besides, 203 private HCPs (including 12 private hospitals) have already completed system connection with eHealth, covering a total of 775 service locations, including 73 locations that provide radiological imaging services.
The Government will also gradually mandate all private HCPs that participate in government-subsidised healthcare programmes to deposit medical records of citizens using the relevant services to eHealth. Taking the Radi Collaboration project as an example, eligible cancer patients receiving treatment at public hospitals can be referred to private institutions to receive CT and MRI services with all fees subsidised by the HA. The examination results must be sent to the HA’s CMS within three days, saving patients the time to return and collect their reports, and enabling their doctors at the public hospitals to formulate future treatment plans. Citizens and private HCPs participating in the project must register for eHealth and the diagnostic result will be simultaneously deposited in the eHealth system, enabling citizens and other authorised HCPs to conveniently access the relevant examination reports through the system.
Furthermore, the Government will launch the eHealth+ certification scheme to enable citizens to conveniently identify the ability of the HCPs to deposit records to eHealth and the extent of the data involved. Citizens can make reference to such information when selecting the appropriate HCPs to ensure that their medical records will be deposited in their personal eHealth account.
(4) eHealth participation is voluntary for both citizens and HCPs. Under the current mechanism, once citizens provide their “joining consent” to register for eHealth, the HA and the Department of Health can deposit and access their eHRs. As for private HCPs, other than the “joining consent”, citizens must additionally provide individual HCPs with their “sharing consent” to enable the HCPs to deposit and access their eHRs in eHealth.
The Government observes that of the nearly six million registered users on eHealth (i.e. provided their “joining consent”), nearly 70 per cent have not provided any private HCPs with their “sharing consent”, meaning that their eHRs have yet to be unlocked for sharing between the private and public sectors or among private HCPs. One of the reasons is that many citizens may not fully understand the current two-step consent mechanism. The Government plans to revise the Electronic Health Record Sharing System Ordinance (Cap. 625) (eHRSSO) to simplify the relevant sharing consent mechanism on the premise that citizens participate in eHealth voluntarily. Concurrently, the Government will continue to streamline the relevant procedures for citizens to give consent to private HCPs via publicity and facilitative measures. The Government is also planning to amend the eHRSSO to empower the Secretary for Health to require HCPs to deposit prescribed essential health data in citizens’ personal eHealth accounts with their consent, in order to protect citizens’ right to access and manage their personal health records. read more
The Commerce and Economic Development Bureau and the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) today (June 26) jointly hosted the Launch Ceremony of the Enhanced Industry Regulatory Scheme for Marketing Calls. Twelve trade associations from seven industries, namely finance, insurance, telecommunications, call centres, beauty, estate agencies and money lenders (see Annex 1 for the full list), together launched the enhanced Industry Regulatory Scheme for Marketing Calls to further expand and strengthen industry regulation of marketing calls.
The 12 trade associations from the aforementioned seven industries will implement their enhanced Codes of Practice on Person-to-Person Marketing Calls (Industry Codes) for industry regulation of telemarketing practices, including requiring telemarketers to provide their names and contact numbers upon recipients’ requests, as well as limiting the number of calls made by telemarketers to the same telephone number within a specific time frame.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Algernon Yau, said that in response to public expectations for better regulation of marketing calls, the Government has adopted a pragmatic and effective approach by actively collaborating with different trade associations to enhance their Industry Codes on the condition that normal business operations are not compromised. “We understand that a number of industries, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises, need to rely on marketing calls to maintain their corporate/business operations. The Scheme strikes a balance between the need for business operation and minimising nuisance caused by such calls, while contributing to enhance the industries’ image and hence achieving a win-win situation,” he stressed.
Mr Yau expressed his gratitude to the finance, insurance, telecommunications and call centres industries for pioneering the establishment and implementation of their own Industry Codes in 2011 to proactively regulate telemarketing practices in the respective industries, and welcomed the participation of the beauty, estate agencies and money lenders industries, which inject new vitality into the Scheme. He called on the industries to uphold the spirit of unity and collaboration to create a more harmonious and healthy market environment.
Also speaking at the ceremony, the Director-General of Communications, Mr Chaucer Leung, pointed out that since the implementation of Industry Codes by a number of industries in 2011, the number of enquiries and complaints related to marketing calls received by the Government have been drastically reduced from 2 060 cases in 2011 to 124 cases in the first five months of 2024, reflecting the effectiveness of industry regulation. The Government will continue to join hands with different industries to further enhance the Scheme.
To raise public awareness of the Scheme and encourage industries’ participation, OFCA also launched the new logo of the Scheme today (see Annex 2). Participating organisations are welcome to use the logo to showcase their efforts and commitments in proactively regulating telemarketing calls.
For details of the Scheme and the list of participating organisations, please visit OFCA’s thematic webpage: www.ofca.gov.hk/en/consumer_focus/guide/others/telemarketing_calls/industry_regulatory_scheme/index.html.
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced toda… read more