Chief Executive John Lee announced in his Policy Address that the Government will conduct a comprehensive review on the positioning and objectives of the healthcare system.

 

“The review will cover the following areas: reforming the functions and division of work among the Hospital Authority (HA), the Department of Health and the Primary Healthcare Commission, strengthening health promotion and disease prevention in primary healthcare, and improving public healthcare services.

 

“In parallel, we will reform private healthcare services in terms of their quality, cost effectiveness and price transparency.”

 

Advancing primary healthcare development

Elaborating on the measures, Mr Lee said primary healthcare development will be carried out in 10 ways:

 

(1) formulating legislation to strengthen the regulatory framework of primary healthcare and authorise the Primary Healthcare Commission to set up quality assurance and monitoring mechanisms;

 

(2) developing a community drug formulary and launching a community pharmacy programme to help the public obtain affordable, primary-healthcare drugs;

 

(3) devising health promotion strategies by adopting a life course framework to formulate health management plans for the public according to age and health conditions;

 

(4) revamping maternal and child health and family planning services to strengthen pre-pregnancy counselling and parental education and promote healthy fertility;

 

(5) strengthening the Whole School Health Programme to recommend targeted school-based measures for physical activities, meals and other matters to improve students’ physical and psychological well-being;

 

(6) upgrading more District Health Centre Expresses into District Health Centres, and expanding the service network, and integrating the services of Woman Health Centres and Elderly Health Centres;

 

(7) expanding the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme to cover blood lipid testing; positioning the HA’s general out-patient services as the comprehensive, primary healthcare service providers for the underprivileged;

 

(8) formulating risk-based screening programmes for prevalent cancers, and implementing hepatitis B screening to prevent liver cancer;

 

(9) launching a Primary Dental Co-Care Pilot Scheme for Adolescents to encourage the prevention of dental diseases, as well as rolling out a Community Dental Support Programme to enhance dental services for underprivileged groups; and

 

(10) continuing efforts in tobacco control.

 

Enhancing healthcare services

In his Policy Address, Mr Lee highlighted that the Government will strengthen the HA’s public healthcare services by the following means:

 

(1) reviewing the structure and levels of the HA’s fees and charges to encourage prudent use of services and direct resources to patients who need them most, while increasing the support for patients with financial difficulties and strengthening the financial sustainability of the targeted subsidisation of public healthcare services;

 

(2) strengthening the centralised procurement of drugs and medical devices by various clusters of the HA system in order to enhance their bargaining power and expedite the introduction of new drugs;

 

(3) formulating a directory for inherited and rare diseases by using the Hong Kong Genome Institute’s genomic data, while supporting research and clinical trials to promote precision medicine;

 

(4) fully integrating the paediatric services of various clusters at Hong Kong Children’s Hospital and developing more advanced healthcare services to make the best use of the Children’s Hospital;

 

(5) finalising the projects and timetable of the Second Hospital Development Plan to dovetail with the development of the Northern Metropolis and address local districts’ needs;

 

(6) setting up the first stroke centre and the second chest pain centre;

 

(7) enhancing the triage system and referral arrangements for specialist out-patient services, including setting up inter-specialty, integrated, out-patient clinics to avoid the need for multiple referrals; and

 

(8) increasing the service capacity for cataract surgeries by at least 20%.

 

As regards the quality and efficiency of healthcare services, the Chief Executive said that the Government will establish a professional platform for developing evidence-based clinical protocols and explore the feasibility of devising service quality and efficiency standards for public and private healthcare sectors.

 

In addition, quality indicators will be developed for public and private healthcare systems.

 

To enhance service efficiency and address the issue of medical inflation, the Government will explore legislating for private healthcare price transparency.

 

Furthermore, the Government will seek amending relevant legislations to require all healthcare providers to deposit essential health data in the personal eHealth accounts of citizens, so that people can have more complete electronic health records and better continuity of medical care.

 

Bringing in healthcare professionals

The Government will promote the use of the legislation passed earlier to proactively admit more non-local doctors, nurses and dentists to enhance manpower, Mr Lee said, adding that a bill on the admission of qualified non-locally trained supplementary medical professionals will be introduced next year.

 

Establishing third medical school

The Chief Executive pointed out in the Policy Address that the Government supports the plan by local universities to establish a third medical school in Hong Kong.

 

“A task group will be set up, inviting universities interested in establishing the new medical school to submit proposals. The Government will set aside sites in the Northern Metropolis Ngau Tam Mei to develop the new medical school campus and build an integrated medical teaching and research hospital.”

 

Promoting development of Chinese medicine

The Government will publish the Chinese Medicine Development Blueprint next year to take forward measures that helps Hong Kong develop into a bridgehead for the internationalisation of Chinese medicine (CM), Mr Lee said.

 

One of the measures relates to exploring the application of big data to foster international research collaboration on herb-drug interaction to discover more evidence of clinical significance, promoting the internationalisation of CM.

 

The blueprint will also promote the expansion of integrated Chinese-Western medicine services to cover more diseases in which CM has an advantage, including respiratory diseases and knee osteoarthritis, and to progressively extend the cancer care programme to all hospital clusters.

 

Furthermore, the first Chinese Medicine Hospital and the permanent premises of the Government Chinese Medicines Testing Institute are expected to be completed and begin phased operation next year, while the first edition of the Hong Kong Chinese Medicine Cultural Festival will be held, Mr Lee added.

 

Promoting mental health

The Chief Executive also outlined measures, based on a medical-educational-social collaboration model, to promote mental health.

 

The Government will develop a stepped care model for mental health, which comprises a multi-disciplinary framework with tiers, from dealing with general emotional problems in the frontline to handling cases requiring follow up and more serious mental illnesses cases.

 

“The framework sets out the roles of different professionals and their division of work in the provision of mental health services for cases in each tier, enabling them to work together and perform their respective roles smoothly,” Mr Lee explained.

 

An annual promotional theme will be set for the Mental Health Workplace Charter, and recognition will be given to participating organisations for achieving targets. The 4Rs Mental Health Charter in schools will also be campaigned to promote the mental health of students, teaching staff and parents in a more holistic manner.

 

The Government will extend and enhance the Three-Tier School-based Emergency Mechanism, and launch the Mental Health Literacy resource packages for senior secondary and lower primary levels. A real-time, online youth emotional support platform will be set up in the second quarter of next year.

 

A Transitional Support Service Teams for Persons in Mental Recovery will be set up, offering support to discharged patients waitlisted for halfway house service. The Social Welfare Department will also launch an additional Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness.

 

The Government will also strengthen teachers’ capacity in the early identification of, and support for, students with mental health needs, and assist parents in acquiring the knowledge and skills in addressing children’s mental health.