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Residential care homes for the elderly
Following is a question by the Hon Li Ming-wah and a written reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Question:
It has been published in the Government Gazette that the date of implementing section 6 of the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance (cap. 459), which was originally intended to come into effect on 1 April 1996, will be deferred to 1 June 1996. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a)
(b)
(c)
of the reasons for deferring the implementation date of the above- mentioned section of the Ordinance;
what contingency measures the Government will adopt to deal with those residential care homes which are operated without a certificate of exemption or licence, in the event that the processing of applications for residential care home licences cannot be completed by 1 June 1996; and
what specific measures will be put in place to ensure that the licensed residential care homes are operated in accordance with the statutory requirements?
Reply:
(a)
The Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance, with the exception of section 6 i.e. the penalty section, came into operation on 1 April 1995. The reason for not bringing section 6 into operation at that time was to give operators of residential care homes sufficient time to familiarise themselves with the new legislation, to apply for licences and to make any improvements needed to comply with the prescribed standards. Social Welfare Department initially estimated that operators would need about 12 months to do this. However, it became clear by February 1996 that it would not be advisable to bring section 6 into operation as early as originally intended for the following reasons: