A
point that this matter might be usefully considered by the
Medical Development Advisory Committee and I will try to
arrange that this shall be done.
Dr. CHIU : Sir, as there is a demand in hospice care in all
hospitals, will
will the Government inform this Council whether it
could consider this service even in its simplified form and
whether its financial and manpower implications have ever been
studied?
Secretary for Health and Welfare
Sir, we have not
This I
considered, certainly in detail, the possible cost of
implementing hospice type care in all public hospitals.
think would be a very major operation and, as I said earlier, I
think that there are other matters which need to be given
perhaps a higher priority than this particular aspect.
Mr. CHEONG-LEEN : Sir, in referring this matter to the Medical
Development Advisory Committee,
Committee, could
could the suggestion that the
existing service be expanded to public hospitals more or less
on a voluntary basis be included for consideration and as Dr.
CHIU has just mentioned, could the financial implications have
the support from Government?
Secretary for Health and Welfare : Certainly if a scheme of
this sort were expanded to public hospitals, it would probably
have to be on an across-the-board basis and this certainly
would have very considerable financial implications, but in the
discussion in the Medical Development
Development Advisory Committee we
will certainly bear in mind the points made by Mr. CHEONG-LEEN.