SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1986
SIR EDWARD: GROWING DEMAND FOR ANAESTHETISTS
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THE DEMAND FOR ANAESTHETISTS, WHO PLAY A MAJOR ROLE NOT ONLY IN OPERATION THEATRES BUT ALSO IN INTENSIVE CARE UNITS AND ACCIDENT AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS, WILL INCREASE WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL SERVICES IN HONG KONG.
THIS WAS STATED BY THE GOVERNOR, SIR EDWARD YOUDE, AT THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE SEVENTH ASIAN AND AUSTRALASIAN CONGRESS OF ANAESTHESIOLOGISTS THIS (SATURDAY) EVENING.
DESCRIBING THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENT, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT FOUR NEW HOSPITALS IN THE GOVERNMENT SECTOR ALONE, EACH WITH MORE THAN 1 500 BEDS, WOULD COME INTO OPERATION IN STAGES WITHIN THE NEXT 10 YEARS WHILE A MAJOR PROGRAMME OF EXTENDING EXISTING HOSPITALS WAS UNDER WAY,
+TOGETHER THESE PROGRAMMES WILL INCREASE THE NUMBER OF OUR HOSPITAL BEDS FROM 25 000 NOW TO 38 500 BY 1995, INCREASING THE NUMBER OF BEDS PER 1 000 POPULATION FROM 4.5 TO 6.2,+ HE SAID.
ON THE ROLE OF ANAESTHESIOLOGISTS, SIR EDWARD SAID THAT IT WAS NOT SO WIDELY RECOGNISED THAT BREAKTHROUGHS IN NEW SURGICAL TECHNIQUES WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT SIMULTANEOUS ADVANCES IN ANAESTHESIOLOGY,
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SIR EDWARD SAID, WITH THE HELP OF MODERN ANAESTHESIA, MANY OF TODAY'S DISEASES AND ABNORMALITIES IN THE VERY YOUNG AND VERY CLD HAVE BEEN TREATED SUCCESSFULLY BY SOPHISTICATED SURGERY.+
+DEVELOPMENTS IN ANAESTHESIOLOGY HAVE ALSO MADE POSSIBLE ITS WIDER APPLICATION IN MEDICAL SPECIALTIES OTHER THAN SURGERY.
SIR EDWARD THANKED THE WORLD FEDERATION OF ANAESTHESIOLOGISTS FOR CHOOSING HONG KONG AS THE VENUE FOR ITS CONGRESS AND THE ASSOCIATED SCIENTIFIC EXHIBITION,
+THESE WILL HIGHLIGHT THE IMPORTANT ROLE PLAYED BY ANAESTHETISTS IN SURGERY AND MEDICINE AND IN MANY ASPECTS OF PATIENT CARE. IT WILL FURTHER STIMULATE INTEREST IN THIS SPHERE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE
IN HONG KONG, HE SAID.
SIR EDWARD SAID THAT THE THEME OF THE CONGRESS - NEW DIRECTIONS IN ANAESTHESIA - WAS IMPORTANT FOR SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERIES FOR IT COULD ALSO STIMULATE PROGRESS IN THE DELIVERY OF HOSPITAL SERVICES TO THE PUBLIC.
APART FROM RECOGNISING THE NEED TO PRESERVE THE BEST OF EXISTING SYSTEMS, SIR EDWARD ADDED THAT THE GOVERNMENT MUST ALSO BE READY TO EXAMINE METHODS TO IMPROVE THEM, TO MAKE THEM MORE RESPONSIBLE TO THE NEEDS OF THE PUBLIC AND MORE EFFICIENT IN THE IR USE OF RESOURCES.
/HOWEVER, HE