The “District Services & Community Care Teams – Scheme on Supporting Elderly & Carers”, currently implemented in Tsuen Wan and Southern District, will be rolled out citywide next year, Secretary for Labour & Welfare Chris Sun said today.

Replying to questions from legislator Tang Ka-piu in the Legislative Council, Mr Sun said that the Social Welfare Department – which has been piloting the scheme in the abovementioned districts since March – had assisted in training care teams to reach out to and identify elderly households, caregivers and people who are in need due to disabilities.

Over the past six months, the care teams have visited around 4,700 families and referred over 730 elderly cases to social welfare organisations for follow up. The 2024 Policy Address announced that the scheme will cover all 18 districts next year.

In September last year, the department also commissioned the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals to launch a 24-hour designated hotline for carer support.

The hotline has so far received over 50,000 calls and referred about 850 cases to community support service units for service matching as appropriate. Of these, around 270 elderly households were referred to elderly service units or respite services. In addition, the hotline facilitated crisis handling in 56 cases.

Mr Sun said the Government will make use of different channels to enable early identification of elderly residents with potential service needs, and the provision of timely and effective support.