160 Health
addition, there were 3 818 beds in private hospitals, 3 573 in nursing homes and 799 in institutions run by the Correctional Services Department. There are five beds per thousand of population.
The DHA for 2005-06, shows that spending on secondary, tertiary and specialised healthcare services, including public specialist outpatient and inpatient services, as well as private inpatient services, amounts to about $35.5 billion. Spending on public specialist outpatient and inpatient services account for 82 per cent of this amount.
Specialist Outpatient Service
Public sector secondary and tertiary ambulatory medical services are provided mainly through the Hospital Authority's specialist clinics. At these clinics, patients' symptoms are diagnosed and treatment is provided. About $6.5 billion was allocated in the 2008-09 financial year for these services.
Hospitals under the Hospital Authority have specialist clinics for internal medicine and a wide range of surgeries from obstetrics to cardiothoracics.
In 2009, members of the public made close to 6.3 million visits to public hospital specialist outpatient clinics.
Under the Hospital Authority's triage system, appointments for new patients are made on the basis of the severity of their condition.
Patients in stable condition are referred back to primary care practitioners in the private sector or the Hospital Authority's general outpatient clinics.
Allied Health Service
Allied health professionals working under the Hospital Authority include audiologists, clinical psychologists, dietitians, occupational therapists, optometrists, orthoptists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, prosthetists and orthotists, speech therapists and medical social workers. They provide rehabilitative and extended care for patients receiving inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory and community care services to help them reintegrate into society.
In 2009, members of the public made close to two million visits to allied health outpatient departments. Allied health professionals such as medical laboratory technologists, diagnostic radiographers, radiation therapists, medical physicists and medical scientific officers also assist medical practitioners make diagnoses and monitor the treatment results.
In recent years, the Hospital Authority had implemented a new grading system for individual allied health officers such as those in the physiotherapist grade, specialising musculo-skeletal disorders, or the occupational therapist, specialising the mental health and other such specialists. After receiving advanced specialist training in their respective fields, they can assist doctors in providing preliminary assessment of patients with mild conditions, or providing their follow-up treatments. This reduces their waiting time for timely treatment.
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