HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL - 15 February 1989
香港立法局—————————一九八九年二月十五日
Medical service in refugee camps
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14. 周美德議員問:鑑於最近死因研究庭研究芝麻灣難民營內一名女嬰病逝事件時,陪審團建 議營內24小時均由合資格的醫務人員或至少一名有經驗的註冊護士當值,政府可否告知本局, 是否接納此建議?若然,以目前醫生與護士的短缺情況,政府打算如何提供此項服務?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: The former Chi Ma Wan Closed Centre for Refugees was converted into a detention centre for Vietnamese boat people in August 1988. It remains under the management of the Correctional Services Department.
Medical services at the Chi Ma Wan Detention Centre are provided by the Medical and Health Department. A doctor and two nurses are on duty during normal clinic hours (9 am to 5 pm from Monday to Friday and 9 am to 1 pm on Saturday). Outside clinic hours, a doctor and two nurses are available on an 'on-call" basis, but they are stationed at the staff quarters at Pui O and Cheung Sha, about 20 minutes away from the centre.
Following the recommendation by the jury at the recent Coroner's inquest, medical coverage at the two detention centres which are situated on remote islands, namely, Chi Ma Wan and Hei Ling Chau, will be improved with effect from 27 February. Clinics will be manned by at least one registered nurse 24 hours a day, every day of the week, and another nurse will be on-call in each centre to provide back-up service, if necessary.
The presence of an experienced registered nurse on duty, on a 24-hour basis, will ensure that potential emergencies are identified promptly and immediate treatment arranged, if necessary. It is not considered necessary to station a doctor in the centres on a 24-hour basis. As at present, a doctor will continue to be on duty during normal clinic hours and available on an"on-call" basis at other times.
To implement the above improvements in nursing services, the current six nursing staff in each centre will have to be increased to nine. As a number of nursing staff can be released from the three refugee centres which are being taken over by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, these additional posts can be provided without detriment to the overall nursing service in the Medical and Health Department.