THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1984
16
MEDICAL SERVICES EXPANDING
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THE SHORTFALL IN THE NUMBER OF HOSPITAL BEDS AND DOCTORS WAS BEING PROGRESSIVELY MET, THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, SAID TODAY.
THE OPENING OF NEW HOSPITALS AND EXTENSION OF EXISTING ONES WOULD PROVIDE 3 000 MORE BEDS EVENTUALLY, HE SAID.
AND THE SHORTFALL IN THE NUMBER OF DOCTORS HAD ALSO BEEN REDUCED, AS THERE WERE SOME 4 100 DOCTORS IN PRACTICE AGAINST 3 200 IN 1980. FURTHER SUPPLY WAS EXPECTED IN 1986, FROM THE FIRST MEDICAL GRADUATES OF THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY.
SPEAKING OF PLANS TO HELP CERTAIN EX-MENTAL PATIENTS, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT THERE WOULD BE NEW LEGISLATION PROVIDING, AMONG OTHER THINGS, SIMPLER AND MORE EFFECTIVE PROCEDURES FOR ADMISSION, DISCHARGE AND, WHERE NECESSARY, RECALL OF MENTAL PATIENTS TO MENTAL HOSPITALS.
ANOTHER BILL WOULD BRING OPTOMETRISTS WITHIN THE AMBIT OF THE SUPPLEMENTARY MEDICAL PROFESSIONS ORDINANCE SO AS TO RAISE THE STANDARD WITHIN THE PROFESSION.
THE GOVERNOR ALSO SAID THAT CONSULTANTS WOULD BE APPOINTED TO REVIEW MEDICAL SERVICES PROVIDED IN GOVERNMENT AND SUBVENTED HOSPITALS TO ENABLE PATIENTS TO HAVE READY ACCESS TO THE BEST POSSIBLE STANDARD OF CARE AND TO CONSIDER WHAT CHANGES WERE NEEDED IN ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE, STAFFING, AND INTERNAL ADMINISTRATION FOR THE EXPANSION IN YEARS AHEAD.
+WE ARE RIGHTLY PROUD OF THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS OF THOSE WHO PRACTISE IN OUR HOSPITALS; AT THE SAME TIME WE MUST ENSURE THAT OUR HOSPITAL SERVICE IS ORGANISED TO GIVE PATIENTS READY ACCESS TO THE BEST POSSIBLE STANDARD OF CARE,+ SIR EDWARD SAID.
GANG CRIME CAUSES CONCERN
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THE HIGH INCIDENCE OF TRIAD AND GANG CRIMES, AND SERIOUS AND VIOLENT CRIMES COMMITTED BY YOUNG MEN, WAS CONTINUING TO CAUSE CONCERN, SAID THE GOVERNOR,
THIS CAME AGAINST A BACKGROUND OF A SMALL DECREASE IN RECORDED CRIME THIS YEAR COMPARED WITH LAST, HE SAID.
TO COMBAT THE PROBLEM, THE POLICE HAD REVISED THEIR STRATEGIES TO COUNTER GANG AND TRIAD ACTIVITY AND THESE WERE ALREADY PROVING EFFECTIVE.
/+IN PARTICULAR,