2
I
Peak
of the cases of the type dealt with by report. In the Castle
Hospital, I am afraid, the position is not quite SO
satisfactory and it is not yet possible to implement this
recommendation fully. On Mr. HUI'S third point of cases
approached by
psychiatric
understand that as
nurses and social workers, I
a result of the recruitment of а
considerable number of psychiatric nurses, the number of home
visits has increased from 2,033 in 1983 to 10,585 last year.
terms but the
DR. HO: Sir, the halfway houses are familiar
community therapeutic centre is a fancy one. May this Council
be informed what steps have been taken to educate the public of
these facilities?
SECRETARY
FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE:
Sir, the halfway houses as
Dr. HO says are familiar in that we have had halfway houses for
some years. They deal with the ordinary run of ex-mental
patients who do not need any particular security or other
arrangements when they are
living in halfway houses.
The
report referred to special halfway houses and the community
therapeutic centre is, as Dr. HO says, a slightly fancy term
for this type
type of
institution. There has been in areas, and
particularly in Sha Tin, where it is proposed to open a number
of these centres. Originally there was considerable public
opposition to this idea but an extensive publicity campaign has
been undertaken by the Social
Welfare Department with the