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3.
In addition, 11 recommendations requiring changes
in the law have been incorporated in a Bill to amend the
Mental Health Ordinance (Cap. 136) I expect that this Bill
will be introduced into this Council within the current
session, subject to the agreement of the
Governor-in-Council.
4.
Only two of the recommendations have not been
accepted. The first of these was that the establishment of
a psychiatric emergency squad, to provide on-the-spot help
for mental patients and their families in emergency
situations, should be examined. The conclusion was that
this would not be a very appropriate way of dealing with
such situations, particularly when the patient was violent;
nor would it be possible to provide territory-wide coverage
with the limited staff resources available. The second
recommendation that was not accepted was that a full-time
psychiatrist should be provided for the Siu Lam Psychiatric
Centre; in this case it was considered that the existing
arrangement of two visiting psychiatrists would
appropriate, particularly when the proposed consultant post
with overall responsibility for forensic psychiatry has been
established.
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