decline in the number of cases reported and not one notification was received during the months of June, July and August, a period which had shown the peak incidence in previous years,
6. Past reports of the Medical and Health Department have made repeated mention of the increasingly heavy demands on the hospital and clinic services available in the Colony, which have resulted from the rapidly expanding population and from the increasing demand for Western medical attention. However, during the year under review there were two major developments designed to alleviate this pressure, One of these was the opening of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital by His Excellency the Governor on 10th September, 1963. The other was the acceptance by Government of a basic long-term development programme for medical services in Hong Kong,
7. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital is the largest acute general hospital in the British Commonwealth, and provides a welcome addition to the Colony's strained hospital services, particularly to those on the Kowloon Peninsula where the greatest expansion of population has occurred in recent years. Built as a single block, it is in reality two separate 'ward stacks' joined on the lower floors by administrative and central service areas. It accommodates 1,338 beds with all necessary ancillaries. The Sisters' and Nurses' quarters and the Nurses Training School are adjacent to the hospital and were opened in 1960. This hospital has replaced the Kowloon Hospital as the acute emergency hospital for Kowloon and the New Territories and, in addition, will provide facilities for highly specialized investigation and treatment in that area; these facilities include a large radiotherapeutic institute, donated by the Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club, for which equipment had not been completely installed by the end of the year under review. A phased programme to attain full functioning of the hospital and to transfer facilities from the Kowloon Hospital was commenced on 3rd December, 1963 and was completed by mid-January, 1964.
8. In 1959, a detailed plan of development for the five-year period 1960-65 was prepared; this was approved by Executive Council in 1960, subject to the examination of the details of each project by the Finance Committee of Legislative Council. This plan was an interim exercise only, as the absence of detailed population statistics made impos- sible any accurate long-term assessment of the problem.
9. Following the 1961 census, a revised programme for further development of curative services was prepared, designed to provide adequate facilities by 1972. After consideration by the Medical Advisory
2
Board, this plan was submitted to Government in 1962; the Board recom- mended its adoption, subject to the proviso that the estimates of cost, both capital and recurrent. might prove beyond the resources of the Colony. In view of this proviso, the plan was reviewed critically by an informal Working Party comprising members of the Colonial Secretariat and of the Medical and Health Department under the chairmanship of the Director of Medical and Health Services. The report of this Working Party was accepted by Executive Council in January, 1964, subject to the provision of necessary funds by the Finance Committee and to further detailed consideration of the plan at all stages; it was tabled subsequently as a White Paper in the Legislative Council.
10. The report was based on the stated policy of Government "to provide, directly or indirectly, low cost or free medical and personal health services to that large section of the community which is unable to seek medical attention from other sources'. It briefly reviewed the history of medical and health services in Hong Kong, in particular during the years following the Second World War and then examined in detail the immediate requirements for out-patient curative services and for hospital beds of various categories.
11. With regard to the requirements for out-patient services, the report recommended a standard urban clinic for each 100,000 of the urban population and a standard rural clinic for each 50,000 of the population in rural areas. Other recommendations were made for the provision of clinics offering certain specialized services, for example în ophthalmic diseases, tuberculosis and social hygiene.
12. Referring to the provision of hospital beds, the report estimated that by the end of 1963 there would be 2.91 hospital beds of all categories per 1,000 population; this estimation assumed that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the new Kwong Wah Hospital would be fully operational at the time. The distribution of beds amongst the various categories would be as detailed in Table 1.
General Maternity Infectious Tuberculosis
Mental
Total
TABLE I
PROVISION OF HOSPITAL BEDS (DECEMBER 1963)
I
...
Total Beds
Ratio per 1,000
population
5,140
1.44
1,893
0.53
307
0.09
1,820
0.51
1,176
0.33
2.41
A
3
10.336
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