HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -15 March 1989 香港立法局 一九八九年三月十五日
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after the splitting. All these are understandable. In these sensitive times, Sir, it is crucial for the Administration to affirm that the exercise of the splitting of the department is only the beginning of a progressive change for the better and that this move would be reviewed on a regular basis with full information and consultation with the working staff.
With these remarks, Sir, I support the motion.
SECRETARY FOR HEALTH AND WELFARE: Sir, I think I should begin by going back to the terms of reference of the consultancy which led to the recommendation that the Hospital Authority should be set up and that the Medical and Health Department should be split. Sir, the terms of reference of the consultancy was confined to hospital services for very good reasons and certainly not with the ulterior motives that Dr. IP has seen fit to attribute to the Government. Sir, at that time in 1984-85 the Government could see quite clearly that there was an organizational problem because of the sheer size of the Medical and Health Department. The current number of staff is over 27 000. It was smaller then but not much smaller. Secondly, it is obvious also that there were serious hospital management problems especially in the major hospitals. It was also seen that there was a need for the better integration of and co- ordination between services provided by Government and subvented hospitals. And lastly, there was the need to confine the consultancy to a manageable size and within a reasonable period of time. On the other hand, Sir, on the health side there was already in existence an effective programme of preventive medicine as reflected in vital health indices which were even then highly satisfactory by international standards.
Sir, I will not repeat here the conclusions and recommendations of the consultancy which I have already summarized in my earlier statement. The fact is that having accepted the recommendations, the splitting up of the Medical and Health Department into two separate departments becomes a natural consequence.
The Members who have spoken today have identified a number of areas where, as a result of the split, there might be potential problems, logistical or otherwise. As I said in my earlier statement, Sir, one of the main reasons for splitting the department one year in advance of the establishment of the Hospital Authority is to provide time for teething problem to be identified and addressed. The setting up of the Hospital Authority next year will involve major changes in the running of our public hospitals. To split the department at the same time next year will have compounded the problems which will have to be faced in any case. So I think it makes very good sense for us to do it one year in advance of the actual setting up of the Hospital Authority. I would say too, Sir,