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To conclude, Mr President, the Administration recognises that important role played by Members of this Council. We have paid, and will continue to pay, respect to this role, and to the right of Honourable Members to interpret it as they wish. But we too have a role to play, and I hope that Members will in turn respect that role, and our right to interpret it in the way that we believe is in the best interests of the people of Hong Kong as a whole. That is surely the best way to maintain the public's confidence in this Council and the entire system of government in Hong Kong.

With these remarks, I urge Honourable Members to vote against this motion.

End/Wednesday, January 25, 1995

Improved services for the elderly in the pipeline

The Government is to spend an additional annual recurrent cost of $37 million in 1995/96 to implement the recommendations contained in the report by the Working Group on Care for the Elderly. The amount will rise to $108 million in 1999/2000.

In addition, another $327 million in capital costs will be spent during the five- year period from 1995-2000 in improving services for the elderly, the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, said during the motion debate on health care plan for the elderly in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday).

Mrs Fok said that caring for the elderly had always been a Government priority, as had been abundantly proven in various policy areas such as housing, welfare, and healthcare.

Following the publication of the Report of the Working Party on Primary Health Care in 1990, the Government has not only initiated new ventures targeting the elderly as a group, but have also encouraged a realisation of partnership and the team approach in healthcare for this vulnerable group.

At the policy level, Mrs Fok said, the Government had recently set up a new Elderly Services Division within the Health and Welfare Branch to co-ordinate and oversee policy matters related to health services for elderly people.

At the organisational level, the Department of Health continues to take the lead in collaborating with other healthcare providers to care for elderly people in the community through its network of general out-patient clinics and the new elderly health centres.