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basic Enrolled Nurses training. Together, they recruited 110 nursing pupils into their two-year certificate nursing programmes. During the year, 43 nurses with professional nursing qualifications obtained outside Hong Kong, passed the licensing examinations for registered nurses or enrolled nurses conducted by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong and were awarded practising certificates.
The Hospital Authority provides basic Registered Nurses training through its three-year higher diploma programme at the School of Nursing at Queen Elizabeth Hospital. A total of 100 registered nurses graduated from this course and 110 student nurses were recruited in 2007. During the year, the Hospital Authority also recruited 110 pupil nurses into its two-year Enrolled Nurses training programme, specifically designed for the welfare sector.
In addition, the Hospital Authority is committed to strengthening the core competence of nurses and enhancing the quality of nursing care. In line with the overall strategies on healthcare services of the Hospital Authority, its Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies seeks to strengthen the training of nurses in the primary and community care services and to organise training courses to encourage nurses to improve their professional standards through continuous learning. Courses offered by the institute include specialist nursing care certificate courses, a professional competence enhancement programme and e-learning programmes. During the year, the Hospital Authority also strived to promote the exchange of nurses among Hong Kong, the Mainland, Macao and other countries.
Laboratory Services
Government Laboratory
The Government Laboratory offers a comprehensive range of analytical and advisory services to support the Government in upholding its various commitments in the protection of public health. In the financial year 2006-07, $90.88 million were spent for the Government Laboratory to provide analytical services for public health purposes.
In 2007, 158 735 tests on a wide range of food samples were carried out for surveillance and for verifying compliance with the statutory standards. The laboratory has also rendered urgent analytical services on various ad hoc issues during the year, including the examination of oilfish samples, tests for pesticide residues in fruit samples and residues of malachite green, nitrofuans (and its metabolites) and other antibiotics in fish and canned food samples respectively. To strengthen the support for the newly established Centre for Food Safety, additional manpower has been engaged in food examination since April 2007 with a view to addressing the expected increase in workload under the stepped-up food surveillance programme, the food tests required in increasing food complaint investigations and emergency food safety incidents, and coping with the substantial scientific researches involved in the extension of the scope of food surveillance. In addition, the former Hong Kong Institute of Immunology under the Department of Health at Pok Fu Lam will be converted into a Food Safety Testing Laboratory under the Government Laboratory to cope with the additional workload arising from the establishment of the Centre for
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