(c)
(d)
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whether there is a set of criteria for drawing up the respective proportions of population to hospital beds and population to resident doctors, if so, what the details are; and
how 'hospital clusters' are distributed and what their mode of operation is, and what the composition of each cluster is?
Reply:
The actual number of public hospital beds and the total strength of medical and nursing staff working in the Hospital Authority as at end of March 1996 are set out in Annexes I & II respectively.
The concept of establishment does not apply strictly to the Hospital Authority which employs a staffing level mechanism based on approved posts as the basis for determining manpower requirements for individual ranks and grades. With the devolution of responsibilities, each hospital may vary their staff mix according to prevailing operational requirements. Emphasis has been placed on quality outcome as well as resource input. Apart from budgetary control, the Authority has also developed a set of manpower indicators at Annex III to assist hospital managers.
As part of the efforts to improve its annual planning process, the Hospital Authority Head Office is embarking on an exercise to work out an agreed staffing level with each hospital. This process is expected to complete in the next few months and will serve to provide an objective benchmark for future monitoring and control.
Hospital clusters are drawn up for administrative reasons to enhance the co- ordination, planning and management of clinical services between different medical institutions. The designation of these clusters takes into account the geographic location of individual hospitals, their traditional roles and functional relationships. Details about the eight existing clusters are at Annex IV.
The hospitals in each cluster complement and support each other through cross- referral of patients, sharing of major medical equipment and other clinical support services. The objective is to maximise the use of available resources and avoid duplications or gaps in service provision. Each cluster is supervised by a dedicated team of staff in the Hospital Authority Head Office.
The need for new hospitals is identified through regular reviews of utilisation pattern, which is affected by factors including population size, demographic structure, medical technology advancement, ambulatory care, community support and private service providers. The total demand of hospital beds is estimated based on an established formula:
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