X1000306-1984-85_Part01 — Page 9

Clinics

General out-patient services form a vital part of the primary health care system. The Government operates 61 general out-patient clinics. Where necessary, cases are referred to polyclinics or specialist clinics for specialist attention. Evening, Sunday and Public Holiday sessions are also held at clinics which are heavily subscribed as part of an overall measure to meet the expanding demand for out-patient services. Mobile dispensaries and floating clinics take medical services to the outlying islands and the more remote areas of the New Territories. Other inaccessible areas are visited regularly by the 'flying doctor' service with assistance from the Royal Hong Kong Auxiliary Air Force.

Ophthalmic Service

The Unit runs two main out-patient specialist eye centres. In addition, mobile ophthalmic teams are sent around to operate other regional clinics on a sessional basis. A total of 231 960 attendances were recorded on a sessional basis in 1984. The Unit also provides specialist accident and emergency services in the major regional hospitals. There are at present a total of 91 ophthalmic beds in the public hospitals. Mobile ophthalmic teams visit these hospitals on a sessional basis to perform elective and emergency surgery as well as to deal with cases referred from other clinical units. In 1984, a total of 2 199 operations were performed in the hospitals and a further 2 453 operations were performed in the out- patient eye clinics. The number of permanent blindness registered was I 079 and the pattern of the causes for blindness was observed to be mainly degenerative in nature.

An Orthoptic Unit was established to assist in the assessment and treatment of patients with defects in vision and ocular mobility, Additional teams of orthoptists would be established on a regional basis to help with the work of the opthalmic service as well as the assessment of children in Child Assessment Centres.

Ear, Nose and Throat Service

The ENT Unit comprises two main in-patient divisions with a total of 33 beds in Queen Mary Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital. The total number of in-patients treated in 1984 was 2 608 with 1 935 surgical operations performed. The Voit also runs 13 full- and part-time out-patient clinics in urban and rural areas. In 1984, the total attendances at these ENT clinics were 91 598. Minor operations and therapeutic procedures were also performed in these out-patient clinics. Speech therapy services were also available on a limited scale for those who have developed speech difficulties as a result of recent disease or surgery. With only one speech therapist since April 1984, only 3 605 patient-sessions for assessment and treatment were recorded in 1984. The audiological personnel in the unit performed 9 141 audiometric assessments within the year.

Mental Health Service

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The Mental Health Service, in conjunction with 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 1 078 beds and at psychiatric units in many regional and district hospitals. In line with the universal trend of operating smaller psychiatric units within general hospitals, an additional 2 410 beds are to be provided in the various hospitals under planning.

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. The service is further expanded in the year with the opening of two new centres, i.e. East Kowloon Psychiatric Centre and Yung Fung Shee Memorial Clinic.

In 1984, there were 6 908 admissions to the mental hospitals, 629 to the various day hospitals and 201 578 attendances at the out-patient psychiatric centres. Medical staff were hard pressed by the increasing number of medical boards, and of referrals from courts, probation officers and police as well as the newly established Social Security Appeal Boards and the Compensation Boards for assessing emotional damages of sexual offences and other violent crimes, Clinical psychologists of the Mental Health Service conducted a total of 9 501 interviews which entailed assessment and therapeutic functions.

Pursuing the practice of community psychiatry and adopting the multidisciplinary team approach in patient management, special emphasis is placed on the after-care of discharged mental patients during their integration back into the community. In the year, the Community Psychiatric Nursing Service provides continuity in after-care treatment programmes to patients discharged from the two psychiatric hospitals and the out-patients from Hong Kong Psychiatric Centre. Other complimentary rehabilitative supporting services which include after-care social service, placement service, half- way houses, long-stay care homes, social clubs, etc. are organised by the various voluntary agencies and these services are closely monitored and co-ordinated by the Rehabilitation Development Co-ordinating Committee.

Severely mentally handicapped persons requiring intensive nursing care and medical treatment are being cared for in Siu Ian Hospital with 200 beds and the Caritas Medical Centre with 300 beds. In order to meet the great demand in this area, a further 700 beds in this category have been planned for the next decade.

Physiotherapy Service

The Physiotherapy Service is required for the treatment of patients in acute and convalescent hospitals, in the maternity and obstetric wards, in cut-patient clinics and in the medical rehabilitation centres. They are actively involved in the rehabilitation of the physical and mentally handicapped in the various institutes and centres.

In 1984, a total of 198 643 patients were treated and 1 659 735 treatments recorded. With the heavy demand and the anticipated rapid expansion of the service, the Polytechnic increased its training capacity for physiotherapists to 80 in 1984.

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