XN000022-1996-10-09 — Page 33

Reply:

(c)

(d)

(e)

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the number of public hospital wards not serviced by ward attendants and the grade of staff responsible for the cleaning and sundry services in these wards; and whether the reason for these wards not being serviced by ward attendants is due to the high wastage rate of the Ward Attendant grade;

the number of public hospital wards serviced by both ward attendants and health care assistants, as well as the details of the scope of duties of these two grades; and

the number of qualified ward attendants who have not been promoted to the health care assistant grade and the reasons thereof; and the number of ward attendants who are due for retirement in the next six months?

The number of Workman I and II employed by public hospitals as at September this year were 341 and 5,340 respectively. It is an established practice to engage temporary staff, where necessary, to provide coverage for training leave, ad hoc special projects, fluctuation of service demand and lead time for recruitment exercise. A total of 481 Workman II were employed for this purpose as at September this year.

The number of Ward Attendants employed by public hospitals as at September this year was 2,896, of whom 2.794 were working in wards. A total of 185 wards were not served by Ward Attendants, the cleansing and other domestic duties for which are being carried out by Workman I and II. This is mainly attributable to the phased implementation of supporting service reforms rather than staff wastage.

As at September this year, 256 hospital wards were staffed by a mix of both Ward Attendants and Health Care Assistants. Although the latter group is intended to relieve the workload of front-line nurses by taking up tasks of low complexity under supervision, the job description provide clearly for these two grades to carry out cleansing work, other domestic duties and personal care activities when required.

As at September this year, there were 924 qualified Ward Attendants who have not yet been appointed as Health Care Assistants. While those on the waiting list will be offered appointment as and when vacancies arise from the phased implementation of supporting service reforms, some may retain their current employment status due to personal circumstances. A total of 122 Ward Attendants are due for retirement in the next six months.

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