ENG-2016 — Page 187

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Health

Secondary, Tertiary and Specialised Healthcare Services

These services are available mainly in the Hospital Authority's hospitals and specialist clinics. In 2015-16, it spent about $46.4 billion on specialist outpatient and inpatient services. At the end of 2016, there were 28,126 public hospital beds, comprising 21,798 general beds, 2,041 infirmary beds, 3,607 beds for the mentally ill and 680 beds for the mentally handicapped. There were also 4,226 beds in private hospitals, 5,858 in nursing homes and 880 in institutions run by the Correctional Services Department. There are 5.32 beds per 1,000 people. Spending on secondary, tertiary and specialised healthcare services in both the public and private sectors totalled about $62.1 billion in 2013-14, of which spending on public specialist outpatient and inpatient services accounted for 74 per cent.

In 2015-16, about $10.5 billion was spent on medical services provided by the Hospital Authority's specialist clinics. The clinics cover internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, orthopaedics and traumatology, ear, nose and throat, ophthalmology, psychiatry, neurosurgery, oncology, cardio-thoracic surgery and other specialties.

In 2016, the Hospital Authority's specialist outpatient clinics recorded more than 7.48 million attendances. Appointments for new patients are made based on the severity of their clinical conditions to ensure patients with acute conditions receive priority. Patients in stable condition. are referred to primary care practitioners in the private sector or the Hospital Authority's general outpatient clinics for follow-up.

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 to help patients receiving inpatient, outpatient, ambulatory and community care services to reintegrate into society. In 2016, the Hospital Authority's allied health outpatient departments recorded about 2.64 million attendances.

Inpatient Services

In 2015-16, $35.9 billion was spent on inpatient services at public hospitals. A total of 1.73 million inpatients and day inpatients were discharged in 2016.

Accident and Emergency Services

Seventeen public hospitals provide accident and emergency (A&E) services, delivering a high standard of service for critically ill or injured people and victims of disasters. Some $2.7 billion was spent in 2015-16 on these services, which handled 2.26 million visits by 1.3 million people in 2016, an average of about 6,200 attendances per day.

Patients attending the A&E departments of public hospitals are classified under five categories according to their clinical conditions: critical cases come under Category 1, emergency cases under Category 2, urgent cases under Category 3, semi-urgent cases under Category 4, and

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Consisting of all beds in the Hospital Authority's hospitals, private hospitals, nursing homes and correctional institutions.

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