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Appendix D-Contd.
97 The two main principles underlying the provision of medical and health services are the need to safeguard and promote the general public health of the community as a whole and the need to ensure that there are adequate medical and personal health facilities for the people of Hong Kong, including particularly that large section of the community which relies on subsidized medical attention.
98 The expansion and phased implementation of medical and health services are kept under continuous review by the Medical Development Advisory Committee (MDAC). Recent developments in the medical and health field are summarized below.
99 The process of regionalization has been continued by the provision of additional staff to strengthen the regional offices for Hong Kong, Kowloon and the New Territories. In January 1984, the New Territories region was split into two regions, East and West respectively. To develop further the integration of government and subvented medical services by enabling subvented hospitals to assume a greater role in the treatment of patients, development programmes at a total estimated cost of $1,398 million are under way in the Caritas, Pok Oi, Tung Wah Group, Yan Chai and United Christian Hospitals, the Cheshire Home and the Ruttonjee Sanatorium. Capital subventions of $179.2 million have been provided for these projects in 1987-88.
100 The formula for determining the need for hospital beds is constantly being refined by the MDAC in terms of the actual number of beds required, rather than a crude bed: population ratio of 5.5 per 1 000 population. By the end of 1987, there will be some 24 850 beds in government, subvented and private hospitals. These will meet approximately 75% of the estimated requirement. Essential services of the $894.7 million Prince of Wales Hospital were fully operational by the middle of 1985. In addition to $1,186.6 million for the government hospital project in Tuen Mun, $1,057.4 million will be spent on improvements and extensions to Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth and Tang Shiu Kin Hospitals. A further $123.5 million will be spent on site formation works and consultants' fees for a new hospital to serve the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island.
101
The recommendations of the Report on the Delivery of Medical Services in Hospitals published in March 1986 are being examined in the light of comments received during public consultation. Some of the recommenda- tions involve radical changes to the present structure and have substantial financial implications.
102 In addition to the construction of general and specialist hospitals, 13 new clinics and polyclinics are at present included in the Public Works Programme.
103 The aim of the school dental service is to provide dental health education and conservation treatment to primary school children. Four school dental clinics are currently in operation. Work on two more school dental clinics in Tuen Mun and Shatin have started and two others are planned in Shamshuipo and Ha Kwai Chung. In 1987, the service will be extended to cover primary six school children.
104 The community nursing scheme has been recognized as an integral part of medical and health services in Hong Kong. The Government has participated directly in the scheme since 1979 and participating voluntary organizations are subvented on a deficiency grant basis. In 1986 the service handled some 11 900 patients involving more than 204 600 home visits. At present, there are 20 government centres and 27 centres run by seven voluntary agencies. An additional 14 centres are being planned.
(E)(3) Housing
105 The share of total government spending on housing in 1987-88 is 11.9%.
106 Public housing is defined as domestic flats built for renting under the Housing Authority's housing programme and for sale under the Government's Home Ownership Scheme (including ancillary commercial facilities) and the Private Sector Participation Scheme, and temporary accommodation in temporary housing areas. Normally Government does not incur capital expenditure on projects in the Private Sector Participation Scheme because they are funded by private developers.
107 The objectives of the Housing Authority's rental public housing programme are to rehouse low-income families living in unsatisfactory private accommodation, families transferred from the older over-crowded public housing estates, persons rendered homeless as a result of natural disasters and persons displaced by clearances. The aim of both the Home Ownership Scheme and the Private Sector Participation Scheme is to enable families whose income is below a specified limit to purchase their own accommodation at a price they can reasonably be expected to afford and to encourage tenants in public rental estates to purchase homes of their own.
108 By the end of 1986–87, the Housing Authority's stock of domestic accommodation will amount to more than 565 000 flats, with over 30 000 flats having been completed in 1986–87. By the same date, about 57 000 flats will have been constructed under the Home Ownership Scheme. In order to meet future demand, the Government's aim is to sustain a level of production of at least 40 000 flats a year (made up of flats for renting (30 000) by the Housing Authority and flats for sale (5 000 each) under the Home Ownership Scheme and the Private Sector Participation Scheme) under a five year programme which is rolled forward annually. The following table shows production for the four years ending 1986–87, and a forecast for the four years commencing 1987-88-
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