Over 280,000 school children from 859 schools have participated in the scheme, representing a coverage of more than 35 percent of the total eligible school population.
The School Health Service, a Government responsibility, deals with the environmental health and sanitation of school premises and the control of communicable diseases. School health officers, health visitors and health inspectors make frequent inspections of schools, and advise on matters concerning the health of the children and organise special health educational activities and immunization campaigns.
Hospitals
V Hospital and Clinic Service
There are three types of hospitals in Hong Kong, these being, Government, Goverment-assisted and Private. Together they provide a total of 22,690 beds, representing 4.3 beds per thousand of the population. Pressure on the service was experienced on all fronts, reflected by the increase in attendance at out-patient clinics, casualty departments and by the number of hospital admissions.
To ensure better co-ordination within the health sector, the Department since 1977 has taken a regional approach to the planning and aduinistration of medical and health services. Under this system, hospital and clinic facilities situated in a common geographical area are grouped together to form an integrated network of services. The aim is to ensure a more even utilization rate of medical facilities in both the Government and Government-subrented hospitals and clinics. In 1983 further regionalisation was undertaken and the administration of the Regional Offices has been considerably strengthened with the provision of additional senior management staff.
In 1982, the total attendance at Government Casualty departments was 958,178, averaging 2,625 attendances per day. More than 640,800 patients were treated in the 13 Government and 19 Goverrunent-assisted hospitals.
Clinics
General out-patient services form a vital part of the primary health care system. The Government now operates 58 general out-patient clinics and where necessary, cases are referred to polyclinics or specialist clinics for specialist attention. Evening, Sunday and Public Holiday sessions are also held at clinics in the more densely populated areas to help meet the expanding demand for out-patient services. Mobile dispensaries and floating clinics take medical services to the more remote areas of the New Territories, including the outlying islands. Other inaccessible areas are visited regularly by the 'flying doctor' service with assistance from the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force.
Ophthalmic Service
centres.
The Unit runs two main full-time out-patient specialist eye In addition, mobile ophthalmic teams are sent around to operate other regional clinics. A total of 209,237 attendances were recorded on a sessional basis in 1982, The Unit also provides a specialist casualty service in the major regional hospitals on a call basis. There are a total of 78 ophthalmic beds in both regional and district hospitals. Mobile ophthalmic teams visit the hospitals on a sessional basis to perform surgery and to deal with cases referred from other clinical units. In 1982 a total of 2,026 operations were performed in the hospitals and a further 2,963 operations were performed in the out-patient clinics. Eight corneal transplantations were performed, including two transplantations from local donor tissues. The number of permanent blindness cases registered was 977. The pattern of causes of blindness has remained unchanged and is observed to be mainly degenerative in nature, occurring both in the senile and inborn group.
Ear, Nose and Throat Services
The ENT Unit comprises two in-patient divisions with 33 beds based in Queen Mary Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The total number of in-patients treated in 1982 was 2,619, with 1,811 major operations performed. The Unit also runs 11 full-time and part-time clinics in urban and rural areas. In 1982 attendances totalled 80,358. Minor surgical operations were also performed in out-patient clinics. Speech therapy services are available for those who have developed speech difficulties as a result of recent disease or surgery. There are 3 speech therapists in the Unit and over the year a total of 4,921 assessment and treatment cases were recorded.
Mental Health Service
The Mental Health Service, in conjunction with other academic and voluntary bodies, provides a comprehensive psychiatric service for the mentally-ill. Sophisticated treatment facilities are available at the two major psychiatric hospitals Castle Peak Hospital with 1,927 beds and Kwai Chung Hospital with 984 beds and at psychiatric units in many regional and district hospitals. In line with the universal trend of providing small psychiatric units in general hospitals, an additional 2,100 beds have been planned for incorporation within future medical projects.
Supplementing the hospital facilities are psychiatric day centres, which provide a wide range of out-patient treatment, assessment, counselling and after care services on a regional basis. The centres also operate day hospital places and provide other social, occupational and recreational therapy services for the mentally-ill.
In 1982 there were 6,442 admissions to the mental hospitals, 631 to the various day hospitals and 188,879 attendances at the out-patient psychiatric centres. Medical staff were hard pressed to cope with the increasing number of medical boards and referrals from courts, probation officers and police. Additional commitments were also generated by the newly established Social Security Appeal Boards and the Compensation Boards for assessing emotional damages to victims of sexual offences and other violent crimes. Clinical psychologists of the Mental Health Service conducted a total of 7,480 interviews, for both therapeutic and assessment
purposes.
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