510
67
THE HONG KONG WEEKLY PRESS &
March 27, 1936
Over Fourteen Million Dollars For Salaries
tration 38.00 34.4 41.4 37.0 36.1 Economic
develop-
ment 9.7 12.0 13.7 20.7 9.1 Social
Ser
vices... 21.8 21.5 24.5 22.17 17.8 Defence 18.9 2.8 13.3 4.45 7.2 It will be seen that the cost of administration in Hong Kong is put at 38 per cent., as against 41.4 in the Straits Settlements, 37 per cent., in Kenya and 36.1 per cent., in Nigeria. Mr. Lo will of course object that the cost of adminis- tration should be computed by his method to include various other items, but this would apply alike to the computation in respect of these other Colonies. The Govern- ment's case is that the cost of ad- ministration in Hong Kong com- pares not unfavourably with that of other Colonies.
of the unofficial members of this Council, a reform which culmin- ated in the recent legislation covering all matters of public health.
being of opinion that the charges at present fixed are not unduly low.
The Education Department like the Medical Department has developed with the times. Hon- ourable Members will recollect how Government was urged to proceed with the new Central British School. The Police De-
which partment, regarding
I shall speak more fully later, has had new and onerous duties thrust upon it, and an opium policy, which we have adopted in conformity with our obligations to the League of Nations, has at the same time diminished our revenue and swollen the popula- tion of our gaols.
I suggest that it would be more profitable to abandon this fallaci- ous distinction between salaries and other forms of expenditure and to consider the question of whether the taxpayer receives an adequate return for his expendi- ture as a whole, whether the Co- lony has undertaken services which it cannot afford and whe- ther
the services it provides could be provided more cheaply
The amount of work performed than at present without undue loss by the Medical Department, that of efficiency. Now these are mat- is the amount of service to the ters which the Government has community of Hong Kong, may be always in mind. It believes that gauged by the folloing figure show- the taxpayer does receive
increase in the ing the an
number adequate return for his expendi- of patients treated in Government ture, the services it undertakes | Hospitals, clinics and dispensaries.
It must be remembered that in 1924 the estimated population of Hong Kong was 695,500 as against 966,341 in 1935. In 1924 the public health organisation of the Colony was considerably below that deem- ed normal for a first class Colony such as Hong Kong then was and still is. In 1924 there was no Gov- ernment Hospital in Kowloon, which had then a population of 140,000. The only medical assis- tance offered by Government on the peninsula was at a small out- patients' dispensary in Nathan Road. The present Government I now turn to the third of the Civil Hospital, soon to be replaced questions I suggested as matters by the Queen Mary Hospital, con- for consideration viz, whether the tained two wards less than to-day. | services rendered by the Govern- The Maternity block at the Vic-ment could be performed more toria Hospital had not been erect- cheaply without undue loss of effi- ed. There was no Central Medical ciency. The Honourable Member's Store, no special Radiological arguments on this point are aimed Branch or Malaria Bureau, no chiefly to show that the Govern- Venereal Diseases Clinic, no New ment ought to proceed more rapid- Territories dispensaries, no In-ly with the replacement of an ad- fant Welfare Centres and no school | mittedly expensive European staff. welfare service, and the Tsan Yuk more particularly in the subordin- Hospital was not a Government ate grades, by Asiatics. Mr. Lo institution.
quotes statements by the late Gov- ernor and by the Acting Colonial Secretary. The Government stands statements but as the by these Honourable Member must realize the process is an extremely slow one, The Government has the matter constantly in mind but there is a transition period in which we now are when we still have the Europeans more or less as teachers and the non-Europeans still more or less in the capacity of pupils. This is the case in the Sanitary Department, where local Sanitary Inspectors have been and are being trained. It is also the case in the Medical Departinent in respect of Nursing Sisters, but
have been asked for and indeed in most cases demanded by the public and have in all cases been approved by this Council. Such services could of course be cur- tailed but the Honourable Mem- ber has wisely refrained from specifying the services he wishes curtailed, except for a hint that the Government is giving greater medical facilities than the Co- lony can afford.
THE MEDICAL SIDE My Honourable friend the Direc tor of Medical and Sanitary Ser- vices has replied in detail to most of the points raised by the seconder of the motion in connection with the Medical Establishment of the Colony. On this subject I shall confine myself to more general re- marks on the points raised by the Mover of the Motion.
The Medical and Sanitary De- partments have during the last few years been reorganised with what was thought to be the sup- port, if not the encouragement,
Inpatients.
Outpatients.
Vaccination. Operations.
}
1924 1935
6899 12,510 66,578 277,188
11,438 864 2,691
INOPPORTUNE TO QUERY
way
It is somewhat inopportune now
lony is prepared to forego the ser- to query the cost, unless the Co-
vices which it has till recently been demanding. In providing these services Government in no wishes to enter into competition with private practitioners, or to provide free what can and should be paid for. A recent investigation as to the use made of the Govern- ment Hospitals by persons, other than Government servants, able to | than those offered in other in-
there are other reasons why it has not been found possible to reduce the number of sisters and increase the number of nurses. There is no difficulty with regard to recruiting probationers for the local nursing staff; in fact there is a large wait- ing list. In spite, however, of the salaries given which are higher
stitutions and in spite of the ex- cellence of the accommodation
afford the services of private practitioners does not support the complaint that the Government | provided the majority of nurses Medical service is merely entering into competition with the private practitioner. It is true that the fees charged could be raised but the Government is anxious to avoid the necessity for raising them ꞌ hold the standard required.
leave hospital soon after qualifica- tion. This exodus has been very disappointing disappointing especially to the teaching staff who have worked so hard to train the nurses and up-
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