QUEEN MARY HOSPITAL
128. Built in 1937, the Queen Mary Hospital is the main acute and specialist centre for the Island, and also the teaching hospital for the medical faculty of the University of Hong Kong. Clinical supervision is provided partly by the University's clinical departments, and partly by government specialist units. The workload at the casualty section continued to increase, attendances rising by 12 per cent over those of the previous year. Traumatic cases accounted for 26.1 per cent of all cases seen. A total of 39.8 per cent of all attendances at the casualty department was admitted to hospital for further treatment. Of those admitted, the average length of stay was 8.4 days a patient.
129. A new psychiatric unit was commissioned in January 1972. A new pathology building consisting of a new mortuary, a virus labora- tory and clinical pathology services, and a new clinical building to cater for an increased intake of medical students were all completed by the end of 1972. They are now functioning. The bed complement of the hospital is 1,164.
QUEEN ELIZABETH HOSPITAL
130. The Queen Elizabeth Hospital serves a population of approxi- mately 2.5 million in Kowloon and the New Territories as a medical centre for emergency and specialist care.
131. Last year, attendance at the casualty section rose by 9 per cent compared with the previous year. Of these attendances, 28.3 per cent were due to trauma. A total of 40.7 per cent of all cases attended to in this section required immediate admission to hospital. A small number was referred to the Lai Chi Kok Hospital for admission. The average length of stay in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital was 5.9 days a patient. However, some patients were transferred to the Kowloon, the Lai Chi Kok and the Pok Oi hospitals for further treatment of the sub-acute phase of their illness. The pressure of admissions made it necessary to increase beds to 1,896, in addition to about 100 camp beds, although the hospital's normal capacity is 1,596 beds. The planned opening of the Princess Margaret Hospital in October 1974, will relieve the considerable congestion at the Queen Elizabeth.
KOWLOON HOSPITAL
132. This hospital serves partly as a subsidiary centre for the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and partly as a centre for chest diseases requiring
34
both medical and surgical treatment. It has an acute psychiatric ward. and a paraplegic unit.
133. With the completion of the west wing in October 1970, the total bed complement of the hospital increased from 500 to 1.042. including an acute psychiatric unit of 67 beds, a paraplegic unit of 50 beds, 209 beds for thoracic diseases, and 716 convalescent beds for patients from the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Towards the end of the year, the west wing was almost fully operational, while some wards in the old section were being renovated.
TSAN YUK HOSPITAL
134. This hospital, under the clinical supervision of the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the University of Hong Kong, is the main specialist obstetric hospital in Hong Kong. It has 300 beds, including 50 for the care of premature and sick babies. It is the teaching centre of obstetrics for medical undergraduates and the training school for midwives.
135. About 91 per cent of admissions during 1972 were booked cases. These were mainly primigravidae, grand multiparae, and cases with previous, or present, complications that required specialist care. The emergency admissions were referred mostly from government maternity homes. There were 6,186 deliveries with two maternal deaths.
Castle Peak Hospital
MENTAL HEALTH SERVICE
136. This bospital of 1,242 beds was required to accommodate 1,942 patients at the end of the year-1,915 actually living in, and 27 on trial discharge. It is for the time being the only hospital in Hong Kong for the full-time care of all types of psychiatric patients.
137. The hospital continued to develop during the year, in accord- ance with contemporary psychiatric practice, into a modern thera- peutic community. Except for one closed ward for patients involved in court proceedings, the rest of the wards were in various degrees 'open', with free access to their own gardens. Eight wards were entirely open, the patients housed being convalescent and receiving attention in preparation for discharge. Some patients travelled daily to Tsuen Wan. Sham Tseng, and San Hui to work in factories. Others went to the adjacent New Life Rehabilitation Farm each week. for a short period of rehabilitation prior to final discharge, and many were given permission to move freely within the hospital.
35