ENG-2010 — Page 206

160 | Health

Figures available to the DHA in 2006-07 show spending on primary healthcare, which includes spending on public general outpatient clinics, private outpatient (general and specialist) and dental care, was about $22 billion, of which public expenditure accounts for 22 per cent.

In October 2008, the Working Group on Primary Care (WGPC), which comprised healthcare professionals from the public and private sectors, patient representatives and service users, was reconvened under the HMDAC to formulate specific proposals for enhancing and developing primary care services. In September 2009, WGPC and its task forces put forward initial recommendations for the development of better primary care services in Hong Kong through the following three main areas of work:

developing primary care conceptual models and reference frameworks, especially for the prevention and management of common chronic diseases, starting from diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT), the two most common chronic diseases in Hong Kong, with a view to guiding the provision of enhanced primary care;

• setting up a Primary Care Directory with a view to promoting primary care through the family doctor concept and a multi-disciplinary approach, starting from the sub-directories of doctors and dentists; and

• devising feasible service models to deliver enhanced primary care services in the community through pilot projects as appropriate, including the setting up of community health centres (CHCs) and networks.

As at the end of 2010, the progress of the aforesaid three main areas of work was as follows:

the primary care conceptual models and reference frameworks for DM and HT have

have been finalised for use as common reference by healthcare professionals;

• the Government has started inviting doctors and dentists to enrol in the sub- directories of doctors and dentists of the Primary Care Directory;

• the Government is continuing to explore different models of CHC pilot projects in consultation with healthcare professionals and providers from the public and private sectors, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and universities. The Government also continues to take forward, through the DH and HA, a series of pilot projects to enhance primary care, including various healthcare voucher and vaccination subsidy schemes and other pilot projects for enhancing chronic disease management. The aim is to try out different models for enhancing primary care both within the public healthcare system and through public-private partnership.

Based on the recommendations of WGPC, the Food and Health Bureau (FHB) has drawn up the overall strategy for primary care development in Hong Kong in consultation with relevant professions and stakeholders. It also published the Primary Care Development Strategy Document, which set out the benefits of good primary