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On family and child welfare, the Government has earmarked an extra $175 million, on top of the massive $924 million spent in 1994/95, to strengthen its support for the family and protection of vulnerable children.
The new money will be used on a wide range of new initiatives and services, including the provision of additional family caseworkers, clinical psychologists, home help teams and family aid workers, foster care places, aided places in day nurseries and creches, and a third refuge for battered women and their children.
Welfare for young people has not been neglected. In 1995/96, the Government plans to spend $745 million to provide, among other things, another 22 school social workers to improve the social workers- students ratio; to fund the Youthline Service run by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups from August 1995; and to set up in October 1995 a team of specially trained social workers to deal with youngsters who take drugs.
On the health side, a major undertaking during the coming year will be the construction of the 450-bed Tseung Kwan O Hospital to cater for the population buiid- up in this new town. The project, at an estimated capital expenditure of $1.2 billion, is scheduled for completion in 1999.
Another 807 hospital beds will also be provided to meet rising demand in other parts of the territory.
For those falling sick and seeking medical treatment, the Secretary for Health and Welfare pledged to minimise their discomfort by reducing waiting times. significantly.
Citing examples, she said the waiting time for elderly patients requiring cataract surgery would be cut from 15 months to less than nine months at an annual recurrent cost of $11 million.
The Government is also aiming to reduce by the end of this century:
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the average waiting time for first appointment in all specialist clinics from three months to five weeks;
the average waiting time for all non-urgent operations from nine months to four months; and
the average queuing time in all specialist clinics from 120 minutes to 60 minutes.