HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL —15 March 1989
香港立法局
————————一九八九年三月十五日
26
was general felt, I think, that given its nature plus the importance of volunteer service and a religious input, hospice care would be best carried out in voluntary agencies, especially religious organizations. There was also the consideration that with all the other priorities that the Government had to deal with, the provision of hospice care directly by the Government would not have been given a high priority. That was why it was felt that hospice care would best be carried out by subvention to voluntary agencies.
MR. PETER WONG: Sir, I would be obliged if the Secretary would clarify absolutely that the Administration will favourably consider expanding hospice care to sectors other than the incurably or terminally ill, such as the severely handicapped children?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: Yes, Sir, I will certainly consider that.
MR. MARTIN LEE: Sir, since all of us are going to die one day, and since many of us are likely to die of cancer, if only because of passive smoking, will the Government give this Council a clear undertaking that adequate hospice care will be provided within the next three years?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: Sir, I cannot give that undertaking, first of all because it is extremely difficult to define or identify a person who is terminally ill, except in cases such as cancer patients in the terminal stage of their illness; and secondly, Sir, I do not have the resources to give that guarantee.
MR. PAUL CHENG: Will the Administration advise this Council what other possible short-term solutions are being considered which could help resolve the shortage of bed space in public hospitals?
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: Sir, I believe that the overall shortage is not as severe as impressions might have led people to believe. One of the reasons for the apparent shortage overall is that there is overcrowding in our major regional hospitals. But even within those hospitals, some specialty wards are more crowded than others. And of course there are hospitals whose occupancy rates are lower than the occupancy rates of the major regional