(It should be noted that included under 'hospital beds' are all beas in Government, Government-assisted and private hospitals, and private nursing homes and maternity homes).
5. In regard to outpatient facilities the standards set were:
General
Tuberculosis
Polyclinic
One standard urban clinic to 100,000 urban
population
One standard rural clinic to 50,000 rural population
One standard tuberculosis clinic to 400,000
population
One for every 500,000 population
(A standard clinic is defined as one with a general outpatients depart- ment, a maternal and child health clinic, and a number of maternity beds varying from six in the rural clinics to 24 in the urban clinics).
6. The situation as at 31st December, 1972, with regard to these targets and standards can be summarised as follows:
(a) The overall target of 4.25 hospital beds per 1,000 population was well on the way to achievement, and would be exceeded when all projects planned within the period were completed. However, the balance of general beds between the two categories was not as forecast, there being an excess of acute beds and a deficiency of non-acute beds, and there was a deficiency of mental beds.
(b) It had not been possible to provide one standard urban clinic to 100,000 urban population and one standard rural clinic to 50,000 rural population. The standards set for the provision of clinics in both urban and rural areas had been drastically upset by the rapid development of new towns. For instance, in the Kwun Tong district, where the population has risen to 500,000, or Tsuen Wan which now has 300,000, it is obvious that it would not be practical to build five and three clinics in these two districts respectively to keep up with the development. It is also evident that once a district in the New Territories has become a satellite town it no longer remains rural in character, and the standard applied should be that for an urban district instead.
c) The numbers of tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis specialist clinics or polyclinics were still short of the respective ratios of one to 400,000 and one to 500,000. Here changes in the incidence of diseases as well as the distribution of population following the Colony's rapid social and economic development had created a different situation.
(d) The present number of general clinics is 32, of tuberculosis clinics seven and of polyclinics six. Their distribution between Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories is uneven. Projects in the process of construction or development number five general clinics, one tuberculosis clinic, and three polyclinics.
CHAPTER 2
THE GENERAL STANDARDS TO BE ACHIEVED BY 1ST JANUARY, 1983
7. It is possible, by means of a formula, to calculate the theoretical needs for the various types of hospital beds required to meet a given size of population, having taken into account changes in the pattern of diseases in Hong Kong in recent years. The factors involved are:
(a) Size of population, or sometimes the size of a sector of the population; for example, in the case of geriatric beds the over-65 population.
(b) Discharge rates from hospitals (including deaths in hospitals) per
thousand population.
(c) Distribution of patients between Government, Government-
assisted and private hospitals.
(d) Length of stay.
(e)
Bed occupancy rate.
(f) Reduction or increase in waiting lists.
available
Each of these six factors is in turn influenced by many others; for example, the discharge rates depend on preventive measures, skills, etc.
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