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Health
In 2013, the FHB launched a four-year pilot project to provide dental services for patients with intellectual disability (ID), covering ID adults who are recipients of Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA), disability allowance or medical fee waiver of the HA. Eligible patients. can receive subsidised check-ups, dental treatment and oral health education in the designated dental clinic, or other necessary dental services under intravenous sedation or general anaesthesia in the designated hospital.
The DH also conducts 'Dandelion Oral Care Action, a special oral health promotion programme to educate children with mild to moderate ID in special schools to take care of their oral hygiene themselves.
Mental Health
The government adopts a holistic approach in promoting mental health through a service delivery model that covers prevention, early identification, timely intervention and treatment, and rehabilitation for persons in need. Government funding for mental health services has increased from $3.75 billion in 2009-10 to $5.06 billion in 2013-14.
As a major medical service provider for people with mental disorders in Hong Kong, the HA provides a spectrum of services ranging from inpatient facilities, day hospitals and specialist outpatient clinics to community outreach services. In 2013-14, over 208,000 persons with mental health problems received treatment and support through the HA's various psychiatric services.
Psychiatric inpatient care is essential to facilitate symptom control, behavioural management and early recovery for patients experiencing acute psychiatric crisis. In 2013-14, some 15,000 patients received inpatient care in the HA's psychiatric units, of whom about 650 required long- term care and had been hospitalised for more than one year. The HA maintained 3,607 psychiatric beds and the bed occupancy rate remained steady at around 80 per cent.
Psychiatric day hospitals provide a range of treatment and rehabilitation services for patients who attend for a number of hours in a week. The HA provided about 889 psychiatric day hospital places in 2013-14.
In line with the international trend to focus more on community and ambulatory care in the treatment of mental illness, the HA also operates cluster-based community psychiatric services covering the 18 districts of Hong Kong. In 2013-14, about 260,000 community psychiatric outreach attendances and about 98,000 psychogeriatric outreach attendances were recorded. The HA also extended the case management programme for patients with severe mental illness to cover all districts in 2014-15, serving some 17,000 patients residing in the community.
Other Special Services
The DH operates various specialist clinics and centres including 20 methadone clinics, 19 tuberculosis and chest clinics, seven social hygiene clinics, four dermatology clinics, two integrated treatment centres, four clinical genetic clinics, six child assessment centres, and two travel health centres. These clinics and centres recorded about 6.6 million attendances in 2014.
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