MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Thank you, Deputy President. Hong Kong’s public healthcare system has always been known for its low cost and high quality, under which people can enjoy world-class healthcare services by paying low medical fees. For this reason, the general public would seek public healthcare services when they become ill. Currently, about half of the doctors in Hong Kong are in private practice, but 90% of the public seek public healthcare services for treatment. It is therefore no wonder that the waiting time for specialist outpatient services is unacceptably long.
In fact, the healthcare issue has been plaguing Hong Kong for years. As the new-term Government takes office, the Chief Executive has made clear in his Policy Address his determination to revamp the current healthcare system by shifting the emphasis of the healthcare system from its current treatment‑oriented, hospital‑based structure to a prevention‑focused, community‑based system, by investing additional resources to promote primary healthcare. I believe that the new Government is not afraid of hard work and is bold enough to propose a reform to tackle the root of the problems. This fully reflects the Chief Executive’s determination to resolve the problems.
Among other things, the Government will introduce the Chronic Disease Co‑Care Pilot Scheme (“the Pilot Scheme”), under which District Health Centres will first identify patients with hypertension or diabetes, and then arrange for private doctors to provide continuous treatment. The Government will subsidize half of the treatment fees. Participants will no longer have to wait in line for specialist outpatient services, which can indeed achieve the purpose of triaging patients of public and private hospitals.
In fact, I believe that the new Government has the determination and ability to implement the healthcare reform proposed by the Chief Executive. At present, no specific details of the Pilot Scheme are available, but there are some details that warrant the attention of the Health Bureau. Based on recent experiences, the Pilot Scheme should be attractive enough to become successful. Patients are reluctant to leave public hospitals because of the high quality of public healthcare services and the all-inclusive services for patients until their recovery. As such, the Pilot Scheme has to be attractive. The Government should ensure that participants of the Pilot Scheme can stay in the public healthcare system, even if their cases are being followed up by private doctors. They should be allowed to return to public hospitals for treatment when necessary, without having to wait for additional time. By convincing participants that joining the Pilot Scheme will not exclude them from public healthcare, they will feel assured to do so.
In addition, the Pilot Scheme will subsidize half of the fees. In fact, many middle-class patients under the public healthcare system do not choose private healthcare services because they are worried that they cannot afford the high medical expenses in the long run. Meanwhile, they are also very dissatisfied with the long waiting time in the public healthcare system. Now that the Government subsidizes them to seek consultation from private doctors, and they can switch back to public healthcare when necessary, this is exactly what they need. Therefore, when the Government formulates the specific details, it can take into account the situation of the middle class, which should be the priority target of the Pilot Scheme. In addition, the Government has proposed to arrange for newly diagnosed patients to join the Pilot Scheme. I think patients who are already receiving treatment under the public healthcare system should also be allowed to join the Pilot Scheme. The purpose is to allow as many middle-class people as possible to join the Pilot Scheme, so as to reserve public healthcare places for grass-roots patients as far as practicable.
To resolve Hong Kong’s healthcare issue, it is in fact necessary to start with the root cause by increasing the provision of medical hardware and software. The Government is now pushing ahead with the First Ten-year Hospital Development Plan, under which 4 600 hospital beds will be added in the next five years. I hope that the Government will allocate more resources to procure more medical equipment while expanding hospitals, given that non-emergency patients often wait for a very long time for diagnoses by computerized tomography (CTs) scan and ultrasound, which may delay their treatment. Therefore, the Government should take this opportunity to purchase more medical equipment in order to increase the number of places for related services. Of course, hardware must be accompanied by adequate software. The Government must make vigorous efforts to recruit or train various types of medical personnel, such as continuing to recruit overseas doctors to work in Hong Kong, in order to meet the needs of the community.
Thank you, Deputy President.