HEALTH
mental patients in their home settings - in this way assisting in their social readjustment, and educating patients as well as their families on mental health. Three community psychogeriatric teams have been set up to provide designated care and rehabilitation programmes to psychogeriatric patients. There are 11 Community Psychiatric Nursing Service centres. Other complementary rehabilitative services include day-centres, half-way houses, long-stay care homes, vocational training, selective placement and social clubs, run by government departments and non-government organisations.
Severely mentally handicapped persons requiring intensive nursing care and rehabili- tation services are cared for at Tuen Mun Hospital (which offers 204 beds), Caritas Medical Centre (300 beds), the Duchess of Kent Children's Hospital (25 beds) and the re-opened Siu Lam Hospital (300 beds).
The Castle Peak Hospital is being redeveloped to provide a better physical environment, as well as medical treatment and rehabilitation, for psychiatric patients.
Support Services
The Pathology Service of the Department of Health provides both clinical and public health laboratory services for government clinics and some public hospitals.
The Forensic Pathology Service, with its forensic laboratory, works closely with the Royal Hong Kong Police on the medical aspects of criminology and other medico-legal work. It also performs investigations in all homicides and coroners' inquests.
The Virus Unit is the central laboratory for the diagnosis and surveillance of viral infections, including HIV infections. It provides laboratory support for the screening, assessment and guidance of vaccination programmes against viral diseases.
The Institute of Immunology undertakes the monitoring and quality control of biological products, including vaccines for use in local health services.
The Central Neonatal Screening Laboratory co-ordinates the laboratory activities of the territory-wide neonatal screening programme on congenital hypothyroidism and glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase deficiency.
The Pharmaceutical Service provides pharmaceutical services to all government clinics. It also deals with the inspection and licensing of pharmaceutical manufacturers and dealers, and the registration and import-export control of pharmaceutical products and medicines. Action is taken against the illegal sale and distribution of pharmaceutical products and medicines. In 1993, there were 75 prosecutions.
Radiation Health
Regular visits are made by the staff of the Radiation Health Unit to medical, commercial and industrial premises to inspect the working conditions of people working with radiation. The unit issues radiation licences to proprietors in accordance with the Radiation Ordinance and Regulations and operates a centralised radiation monitoring service for all occupationally-exposed individuals. It also assists in the Environmental Radiation Monitoring Programme organised by the Royal Observatory to monitor the changes in background radiation levels in Hong Kong.
Community Nursing Service
The Community Nursing Service of the Hospital Authority provides rehabilitative nursing care and treatment to the sick, the elderly infirm and the disabled, in their own homes. The
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