on the building industry and on the Public Works Department. More serious than these factors is the acute shortage of doctors and nurses that can be expected during the decade under review, a subject which will be dealt with under the Committee's third term of reference in later chapters.
28. To go some way towards meeting the shortfall in hospital beds the idea has been put forward of providing 'day-beds' in clinics, where patients can be treated and cared for during the day, and either receive minimal care overnight or return home to their families. This would have the advantage of
(i) providing for the psychiatric patient released from hospital who could not stay at home because there was no one there to keep an eye on him in the day time;
(ii) providing for elderly persons requiring some degree of medical
care whether by day or night;
(iii) providing for convalescent patients requiring a few days in bed
after emerging from the acute stage of their illness. These day-beds could be occupied by day or by night. The requirement for the services of a doctor would be minimal, though nurses would be required night and day. The specification for the clinic at Ngau Tau Kok is being altered to permit the inclusion of 20 general, 20 psychiatric and 20 geriatric day-beds, as an experiment. If the experiment is successful day-beds, in number 60, with the mixture deter- mined by experience and circumstances, should be added to clinics planned after 1976.
29. As far as the four clinics Ngau Tau Kok, Lam Tin, Lei Muk Shue and Ha Kwai Chung, scheduled for completion in 1976 and 1977 are concerned, some early experience of the probable success or failure of the concept of day-beds could be gained by conversion of a number of maternity beds, in selected existing clinics, which are not in use. It is recommended that this be done soon, both to gain experience for clinics coming forward and because there are something like 260 maternity beds which can be converted now if day-beds prove to be a
success.
30. Estimates of annual increased needs for staff and money for the programme outlined above of hospital beds and day-beds (on the assumption of success) will be found in Appendices 4 to 6.
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CHAPTER 4
PROJECTS NECESSARY TO ACHIEVE THE STANDARDS SET: GOVERNMENT CLINICS
31. There are currently available in Government Clinics 115 general outpatient department consulting rooms plus 107 rooms for other specialties, a total of 222 rooms. Details are given in Appendix 7.
32.
Further clinics already planned or under way are as follows:
Clinics
Tang Chi Ngong Specialist Clinic (East HK
Island)
No. of Consulting
Rooms*
No. of Maternity Beds
Opening
21
1975
Kowloon East Polyclinic I
13
1975
Kowloon East Polyclinic II
7
1977
Lam Tin
4
24
1976
Ngau Tau Kok
24
1976
1
7
1973
4
24
1976
4
1977
7
1974
Sha Tau Kok
Lei Muk Shue ...
Ha Kwai Chung
Kwai Chung South Stage II
**
Already approved.
:
:
24
1
A general O.P.D. clinic might also be provided in a multi-use building at To Kwa Wan Market.
33. Proposed closures. A number of existing clinics should be replaced, renovated or reconstructed because they are (a) old or (b) too small or (c) poorly sited within the district.
15