Medical rehabilitation
centres
1
Services for other categories of disabilities
Staff training
Establishment of the Orthoptic Unit
and a centre will be established on an experimental basis. In addition, two residential centres will be set up to meet the needs of those who can only benefit from residential care. The basis of estimating the demand will be examined and additional residential or day centres will be proposed to meet regional requirement at the annual review of the Rehabilitation Programme Plan.
5.5 The principle which will be adopted for the provision of medical rehabilitation centres is that one fully-equipped centre should be attached to each of the regional hospitals. The centres will be specifically designed to provide an intensive in-patient rehabilitation programme. Out-patient services will also be provided. Based on this principle, three additional rehabilitation centres will have to be established. The first centre' would be built in West Kowloon, the second centre as part of the development of medical services at Sha Tin and the third at Tuen Mun. These three centres will be completed in 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1985-86, thus providing a complete network of medical rehabilitation services for the physically disabled. In addition, the out-patient facilities on Hong Kong Island will be improved.
5.6 The services for other categories of disabilities caused by cancer, heart and chest conditions etc. will be expanded and improved in accordance with the recommendations of the Medical Development Advisory Committee.
5.7 The running of the additional facilities required will necessitate considerable ex- pansion in the staff training programmes. Staff who will have to be trained include doctors, nurses, clinical psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, prosthetists and orthotists, and medical social workers. The aim will be to provide local training. New courses will be established as soon as possible, making full use of all local training facilities, including the two Universities and the Polytechnic, in order to meet the demands of a fast expanding rehabilitation programme.
5.8
Some children may develop conditions of defective eye-movement for which treat- ment services need to be provided at an early stage, to prevent serious effects on their eye-sight. To provide services for such children, an Orthoptic Unit will be established in the Medical and Health Department in 1978.
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