ENG-1991 — Page 191

HEALTH

The basic training for general nurses is conducted at public and private hospitals. There are now nine schools for training students to be registered nurses and 11 for training pupils to be enrolled nurses with an average annual intake capacity of about 1300 and 630 respectively. An additional student nurse training school and one more pupil nurse training school are planned to be provided over the next decade. The annual intake capacity is to be increased from 1 300 to 1 430 for general student nurses and from 630 to 760 for general pupil nurses.

The training of psychiatric student nurses is conducted at Kwai Chung Hospital and Castle Peak Hospital and training of psychiatric pupil nurses at Castle Peak Hospital. The average intake capacity for psychiatric student nurses is 160 and for pupil nurses is 80. Three more training schools for psychiatric nurses have been planned for the next decade to meet the rising demand for nursing care in the Mental Health Service.

The need for continuing training and education for nurses is recognised. The post-basic school for the Nursing Training Unit provides post-registration courses in midwifery, health nursing and community nursing on a regular basis while clinical specialty nursing courses are conducted to meet the proliferation of specialty services in hospitals. Both part-time and full-time degree courses in Nursing are now being offered by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Polytechnic.

The departments of Diagnostic Sciences, Rehabilitation Sciences and Health Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic provide training for para-medical and para-dental staff, including radiographers, optometrists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, medical laboratory technicians and dental technicians. Training for speech therapists is provided by the University of Hong Kong. The Chai Wan Technical Institute of the Technical Education and Industrial Training Department provides training for dispensers which is complemented by in-service departmental training. There is also in-service training for prosthetists, mould laboratory technicians and therapeutic radiographers in the respective units of the government institutions. Where local training is not yet available, government training scholarship programmes are offered for supply of audiologists, audiological technicians, orthoptists and chiropodists. There are opportunities for overseas training in specialised areas for medical, nursing, para-medical and para-dental staff.

Government Laboratory

The Government Laboratory provides a wide range of primarily chemical testing services to other government departments and public institutions.

The laboratory has a statutory responsibility for the testing of food products for compliance with Regulations under the Public Health and Municipal Services Ordinance. Foods are regularly tested for additives, toxic residues and other contaminants.

Pharmaceutical products dispensed for public use in government hospitals and clinics, and those intended for sale locally, are tested to ensure that they are of accept- able standard. Herbal medicines are checked for the presence of synthetic drugs and toxic metals.

Scientific work undertaken for consumer protection included the testing of cigarettes for tar and nicotine yields, the testing for toxic and carcinogenic substances in toiletries, product testing in relation to suspected forgeries, the testing of gold and platinum articles for fineness, and the verification of products and equipment for compliance with the Weights and Measures Ordinance.

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