ENG-1974 — Page 122

HEALTH

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The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals is a long established charitable organisation. It operates three general hospitals, the Tung Wah, Tung Wah Eastern and the Kwong Wah hospitals with a total of 2,274 beds and a convalescent hospital of 503 beds at Sandy Bay. It also provides subsidiary beds for long term patients and tuberculosis patients at the Wong Tai Sin Infirmary. The recurrent expenditure of these institutions is met mainly by a large annual subvention from the government. The group provides a valuable contribution to Hong Kong's medical facilities and the institutions are gradually being modernised and expanded. The Centenary Block Extension at the Tung Wah Hospital was completed and provides another 424 beds.

The Pok Oi Hospital in Yuen Long in the New Territories is another long established charitable organisation operating with the assistance of a government subvention. Other government-assisted hospitals include the Yan Chai Hospital at Tsuen Wan with 100 beds and the United Christian Hospital at Kwun Tong with 555 beds. A number of other hospitals are maintained by missionary and charitable organisations such as the Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital, Caritas Medical Centre, Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, the Duchess of Kent Children's Orthopaedic Hospital and the Hong Kong Buddhist Hospital. All of these receive substantial government subventions.

Specialist Services

Clinical specialist services in various fields are available in government hospitals and outpatient centres. These are also clinics for tuberculosis and social hygiene together with specialist services offered by the Government Chemist's Laboratory and the Forensic Pathology Laboratory. The Medical and Health Department Institute of Pathology maintains clinical pathology and public health laboratory services. The Institute of Radiology offers specialist services in both diagnostic and therapeutic services. The Queen Mary Hospital and Queen Elizabeth Hospital maintain blood banks and the Hong Kong Red Cross operates a blood-collecting service for voluntary blood donation.

Outpatient Services

To meet the increasing demand for treatment by modern western medicine, the outpatient services, provided mainly by the government and subsidised organisations and private agencies, are developing steadily. The government now operates 50 clinics for general outpatients, with specialist facilities available in the major centres of the urban areas. Similar specialist facilities are provided in the New Territories by visiting teams from the major hospitals in the urban area. Mobile dispensaries and floating clinics take the medical services to the more remote areas of the New Territories, while other inaccessible villages are visited by the flying doctor service.

In accordance with the Medical Clinics Ordinance, all clinics are required to renew their registration annually. On December 31 there were 79 registered static clinics and two mobile clinics under the control of registered medical practitioners and 337 clinics registered with exemption, making a total of 416. The low-cost medi- cal care scheme, in which clinics are set up in public housing estates by registered medical practitioners, continued to operate during the year.