X1000306-1985-86_Part01 — Page 9

V Hospital and Clinic Services

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.

Hospitals

There are three types of hospitals in Hong Kong Government, Government-assisted and private with a total of 24 638 beds representing 4.5 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, accident and emergency departments and by the number of hospital admissions.

To ensure better co-ordination within the health sector, the Department has adopted a regional approach in the planning and administration of medical and health services. Under the scheme, hospital and clinic facilities situated in a common geographical area were grouped together to form an integrated network of services. The aim is to ensure a more even utilization of medical facilities in both the Government and Government-subvented hospitals and clinics.

In 1985, the total attendance at Government and Government- assisted Accident and Emergency Departments was 1 150 549, averaging 3 152 attendances per day. A total of 636 703 patients were treated in the 14 Government and 20 Government-assisted hospitals.

Clinics

General out-patient services form a vital part of the primary health care system. The Government operates 61 (52 public and 9 non-public) general out-patient clinice. 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 230 899 attendances were recorded on a sessional basis in 1985. 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 1995, a total of 2 327 operations were performed in the hospitals and a further 2 748 operations were performed in the out- patient eye clinics. The number of permanent blindness registered was 835 and the pattern of the causes for blindness was observed to be mainly degenerative in nature.

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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 1985 was 2 695 with 2 145 surgical operations performed. The Unit also runs 14 full- and part-time out-patient clinics in urban and rural areas. In 1985, the total attendances at these ENT clinics were 97 048. 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 three speech therapists, only 3 577 patient-sessions for assessment and treatment were recorded in 1985. The audiological personnel in the unit performed 8 967 audiometric assessments within the year.

Mental Health Service

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 1 935 beds and Kwai Chung Hospital with 1 090 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 2 368 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 Tuen Mun Psychiatric Centre.

In 1985, there were G 435 admissions to the mental hospitals, 596 to the various day hospitals and 212 387 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 9 123 interviews which entailed assessment and therapeutic functions.

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