Minutes of the 18th Meeting of the HKSAR Second Term of
Wong Tai Sin District Council
(Summary Translation)
Date:12.9.2006 (Tuesday)
Time:2:30 p.m.
Place:Conference Room, Wong Tai Sin District Office,
6/F, Lung Cheung Office Block,
138 Lung Cheung Road,
Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon.
Chairman:
Mr. WONG Kam-chi, JP
Wong Tai Sin District Council Members:
Mr. CHAN Lee-shing
Mr. CHAN On-tai
Mr. CHAN Wai-kwan, Andie
Mr. CHAN Yim-kwong, Joe
Mr. CHENG Tak-kin, Michael, JP
Mr. CHOW Ching-lam
Mr. CHUI Pak-tai
Mr. FUNG Kwong-chung, BBS, JP
Mr. HO Yin-fai
Mr. HUI Kam-shing
Ms. KWOK Sau-ying
Mr. LAI Wing-ho, Joe
Mr. LAM Man-fai, JP
Dr. LAU Chi-wang, James, JP
Mr. LAU Kar-wah
Ms. LEE Ming-pui, Mavis
Mr. LEE Tat-yan
Dr. LI Sze-bay, Albert, BBS, JP
Mr. MOK Ying-fan
Mr. NG Yiu-man
Mr. SHI Lop-tak
Mr. SO Sik-kin
Hon. TAM Heung-man
Ms. TAM Yuet-ping, Celia
Mr. TO Kwan-hang, Andrew
Mr. WONG Kwok-tung
Mr. WONG Yat-yuk
Mr. WU Chi-wai
Absence with Apologies
Mr.KAN Chi-ho
Ms. CHAN Man-ki, Maggie
In attendance:
Dr. TANG Chang-hung, Lawrence
/ Hospital Chief Executive of KwongWahHospital and TWGHsWongTaiSinHospital / HA / )) / Re:
Item
III(i)
Dr. AU Yiu-kai
/ Deputy Hospital Chief Executive, Our Lady of MaryknollHospital / HA / ))
Ms. W.Y. KAN
/ AssistantHospital Manager, KwongWahHospital(Patient Service, Administration and Public Affairs) / HA / )
)
Ms. SHUM Yuen-wah, Ferna
/ Senior Architect / HD / ))
) / Re:
Item
III(ii)
Ms. KWOK Kwan-yee, Anne / Architect / HD / )
)
)
Ms. HO Siu-che, Winnie / Planning Offr / HD / )
)
)
Mrs Teresa WONG / DO (WTS) / WTSDO
Mr. Ian SEABOURNE / Dist Commander (WTS) / HKPF
Mr.CHAN Ying-fai / Atg Ch Mgr/M(KE) / HD
Mr. LEE Wing-wai / DSWO (WTS/SK) / SWD
Mr. Daniel SO / DEHS (WTS) / FEHD
Mr. WONG Kin-chung / DLM (WTS) / LCSD
Mr. LAU Kin-kwok / STO (Kln/WTS) / TD
Mr. TANG Yiu-key, Jimmy / Sr Engr/ Dist Monitoring Group on Housing Sites &SD(kln) / CEDD
Mr. LAI Ming-fai, Kevin / Designate ADO (WTS) / WTSDO
Mr. Patrick CHUNG / SEO (DM) / WTSDO
Mr. HUI Wai-shing / SLO (DL) / WTSDO
Miss.Shirley WU / Atg SLO (BM) / WTSDO
Mr. Nathan YAM / EOI (DC) / WTSDO
Secretary:
Mrs. Teresa SOH / SEO (DC) / WTSDO- Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the 18th meeting of the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC). The Chairman reported that Mr. Ian SEABOURNE, District Commander (Wong Tai Sin)of Hong Kong Police Force, would retire in October this year. The meeting endorsed that thankfulness would be made to Mr. SEABOURNE for his contribution to Wong Tai Sin and this would be put in record.
2.The Chairmanwelcomed Mr. LAI Ming-fai, Kevin, who was the designate Assistant District Officer (Wong Tai Sin). Mr. LAI would succeed Mr. Bryan HA, the incumbent Assistant District Officer, with effect from 4 October. Mr. HA would be transferred to the Education and Manpower Bureau. On the other hand, Mr. CHAN Ying-fai, Acting Chief Manager/ Management (Kowloon East) would succeed Mr. LEE Cert-quinn who had been promoted to Assistant Director of Housing. The meeting endorsedthat thankfulness would be made to Mr. HA and Mr. Lee for their contribution to Wong Tai Sin and this would be put in record.
3.As regards the Government representatives attending the meeting, the Chairman informed Members that Mr. TANG Yiu-key, Jimmy, Senior Engineer/ District Monitoring Group on Housing Sites & Special Duty (Kowloon) of the Civil Engineering and Development Department would attend the meeting on behalf of Mr. Wong Chung-sang, Talis, Chief Engineer/Kowloon.
4.Members noted that Mr. KAN Chi-ho, Vice-chairman, was absent from the meeting owing to his traveling overseas. Ms. CHAN Man-ki, Maggie, was also absent from the meeting due to personal commitment. Both of them had notified the Secretariat in writing prior to the meeting.
IConfirmation of the Minutes of the 17th Meeting of WTSDC on 27.6.2006
5.The minutes of the 17th meeting of WTSDC held on 27.6.2006 were confirmed without amendment.
IIMatters Arising from the 17th Meeting of the Second Term of WTSDC
(WTSDC Paper 61/2006)
6. Members noted the paper.
III(i)Hospital Authority, Kowloon West Cluster, TWGHsWongTaiSinHospital and Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital-Annual Plan 2006/07
(WTSDC Paper 62/2006)
- Dr. TANG Chang-hung, Lawrenceand Dr. AU Yiu-kaiintroduced the paper with audio-visual aid.
(While Dr. TANG and Dr. AU were introducing the paper, Mr. TO Kwan-hang, Andrew and Mr. CHUI Pak-tai arrived at the meeting at 3:02pm; Mr. WONG Kwok-tung arrived at the meeting at 3:10pm and Mr. CHAN On-tai arrived at the meeting at 3:14pm.)
8.Mr. LAI Wing-ho,Joe agreed to the working direction of the Hospital Authority (HA) under which the quality of medical service would be upgraded and the services rendered to the public would be strengthened. However he was concerned that with nearly 500,000 people living in Wong Tai Sin, they had to go to other districts for accident and emergency (A&E) services as there was a lack of it in Wong Tai Sin. He asked if HA had a plan to provide A&E services in Wong Tai Sin.
9.Ms. LEE Ming-pui, Mavis gave credit to WongTaiSinHospital and Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital. She commented that the two hospitals had been implementing a number of health plans in Wong Tai Sin with the Wong Tai Sin District Council (WTSDC) over the years and were good working partners. She put forward the following views and gave comments:
(i) / Apart from TWGHsWongTaiSinHospital and Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, BuddhistHospital also served this district. Yet BuddhistHospital was not included in the work plan of Kowloon West Cluster, rather it was being marginalised. Many services of specialists and operating rooms were cut, which hindered its development. The development of BuddhistHospitalneeded the support of HA.(ii) / There were four priority areas in the healthcare policy of the Government. She thus asked the following questions:
－How could HA quantify the four priority areas, how much resources would be given to each area?
－The middle-income group was excluded from the “low income group”which was one of the priority areas. They were forced to seek medical consultation from private practitioners, and this aggravated their economic burden. They would also be the group affected by healthcare financing. It was hoped that HA would take their needs into consideration.
－At present, A&E services, hi-tech and expensive treatment were within the scope of priority areas. However, if patients with illnesses in middle stage, common diseases, recurrent diseases and chronic diseases were not given due and proper treatment, this ran counter to the principle of seeking treatment at early stage. She was dubious about the priorities the Government had set in this area.
－Apart from focusing on the training for doctors and healthcare personnel, talents should be retained to keep the precious clinical experience and judgement in order to guarantee healthcare quality.
－There was limited number of doctors and nurses in public hospitals, whereas the roles of occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists were not given full play. The Government should employ these people more to alleviate the burden of doctors and nurses so as to shorten the queuing time of the public.
－As far as healthcare financing was concerned, the charges levied on some treatments and drugs had aggravated the economic burden of patients. On the other hand, the internal administration and structure of HA should be reviewed as well. HA had over 500 staff with annual salaries of over $2 million each. The annual expenditure was over $1.4 billion. Over 80% of the expenditure was used on personal emolument, in other words, only around 10 % was used on the public. She queried the need for healthcare financing.
- Hon TAM Heung-manpointed out that it was not mentioned in the paper about services and policies for women’s health and medicare. In recent years, breast cancer and cervical cancer had become no 1 killers of women. She hoped to know more about the services and policies of hospitals in the district in this area.
- Mr. HUI Kam-shingwas concerned about the fact that the elderly people in Wong Tai Sin might not know how to use telephone booking services for general out-patient clinics. He was worried that once the service was put into operation in October, it would only increase the booking problems of the elderly people. He also asked HA if they would consider providing out-reach services for the elderly.
- Ms. KWOK Sau-yingpointed out that the services provided to the mental patients were not mentioned much in the paper. There was growing number of youngsters or elderly people suffering from psychiatric illness or emotional problems. She hoped that HA would pay more attention to the matter.
13. Dr. LI Sze-bay, Albert, BBS,JP hoped that HA could explain the policies relating to the cases involving expensive treatment cost. He wanted to know if only the low-income group and the disadvantaged would be subsidised for the treatment. He also wanted to know what concrete plan WongTaiSinHospitalwould implement for enhancing public health in the coming year.
14.Mr. FUNG Kwong-chung, BBS, JP made the following enquiries:
(i) / Could HA provide A&E services in Wong Tai Sin?(ii) / How many cases of mental illness were recorded in the district last year? To where the cases would be referred? What would be the procedures?
(iii) / Was there adequate manpower for psychiatric patients?
(iv) / Were there healthcare personnel on duty in the Patient Support Centre to provide counselling and answer enquiries after Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital has strengthened resources?
(v) / The elders might face difficulties in using telephone booking services. Kowloon West Cluster had done a lot of publicity work in this area, how was the effectiveness? How could HA offer assistance to the elderly? Would mid-year review be made for this arrangement?
(vi) / BuddhistHospital had been actively supporting community health activities in Wong Tai Sin. It was hoped that HA could render support to its development.
15.Mr. MOK Ying-fan said that in view of the serious ageing problem, there was increasing demand on medical resources. On the other hand, Chinese Medicine (CM) had proved to be effective in prevention of illnesses and treatment of geriatric illnesses. He suggested that HA actively considered forging closer cooperation with CM practitioners, studied and adopted the therapeutic method of CM practitioners for greater therapeutic effectiveness. Moreover, while HA was implementing five day week, he asked HA how to assist the staff in coping with the changes and solving their problems.
16.Mr. WU Chi-wailearnt that Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital considered opening evening out-patient services in the third quarter of 2006, as the hospital was also providing evening out-patient service, he wanted to know if the new services referred to overnight out-patient services and he also wanted to know the mode of operation of the new services. He pointed out that regarding the future development of medial services, the hospital would assume a more active role in cooperating with local organisations for the promotion of the concept “Prevention was better than treatment”. HA could consider working with social organisations like the Hong Kong Council of Social Service to put health concept into practice in hospitals with social organisations playing the leading role while hospitals giving professional support.
17.Mr. SO Sik-kinwas concerned about the implementation of telephone booking service for general out-patient clinics in October. He hoped that HA could provide the pamphlets and information leaflets for distribution to the public through the Members’ Offices. On the other hand, he suggested that the telephone booking services be extended to specialist clinics.
18.Mr. LEE Tat-yan reflected that many residents commented that telephone booking services for general out-patient clinics were complicated, which was not use-friendly to the users with lower education standard. HA should study further streamlining the procedures. On the other hand, the demarcation of HA clusters was unclear, which confused the public. HA should make administrative improvements so that the public had a clearer idea about their services. As for training for nurses, the number of trained nurses each year was less than enough to cope with the service needs. Yet HA employed a large number of students from tertiary institutions to be the healthcare personnel. He was worried that this would affect the quality of medical services and lead to the loss of professional nurses.
19.In view of the mounting pressure which residents in the district were facing, Mr. SHI Lop-takhoped that HA could strengthen the psychiatric treatment so as to reduce the suicidal rate.
20.Mr. CHAN Lee-shingappreciated the direction of HA in strengthening the development of psychiatric, oncology and infection control services, however these kinds of services required a large number of supporting medical staff. He suggested enhancing auxiliary medical services like patient mutual aid services to cope with the new service direction.
21.Mr. WONG Kwok-tung considered that the middle-income group was usually accorded lower priority in receiving A&E services and they could not receive timely treatment. HA should accord priority according to the seriousness of the illnesses, then followed by the financial capability of patients to seek medical consultation from private practitioners. On the other hand, HA should also cooperate with the Leisure and Cultural Services Department in capitalising their facilities to enhance the overall health of the public.
22.The Chairman concluded the enquiries of all Members, some of which involved the scope of services of different hospitals and HA’s policies. He suggested that HA representatives liaised with relevant departments relating to the questions raised by the Members and attended the meeting of the Community Building and Social Services Committee (CB&SSC) on 26 September to answer the enquiries and provide the relevant information. All Members other than CB&SSC Members were also welcome. The Secretariat would incorporate the record of Q&A into the minutes of WTSDC. The Chairman, on behalf of WTSDC, gave thanks to the three HA representatives for attending the meeting.
(Post-meeting note: the record of Q&A between HA representatives and CB&SSC in CB&SSC meeting held on 26 September was attached at Annex 1 for Members’ reference.)
(Dr. TANG Chang-hung, Lawrence; Dr. AU Yiu-kai, Ms. W.Y.KAN and Mr. WONG Kwok-tung left the meeting at 4:00pm.)
III(ii)Proposed Development of Tung Tau Estate Phase 9 (Redevelopment of Block 23)
(WTSDC Paper 63/2006)
23.The Chairman welcomed Ms. SHUM Yuen-wah, Ferna, Senior Architect; Ms. KWOK Kwan-yee, Anne, Architect and Ms. HO Siu-che, Winnie, Planning Officer of the Housing Department (HD) to attend the meeting.
24.Ms. SHUM Yuen-wah, Ferna introduced the paper with audio-visual aid. HD once briefed WTSDC the initial conception of the development of Tung Tau Estate Phase 9 in 2003. It was proposed that a multi-level podium with provision of facilities be built there, and two 43-storey public housing be built on top of it. In September 2005, while introducing to WTSDC about the development of Tung Tau Cottage Area West Site, HD also briefed Members about the proposals for the further development of Tung Tau Estate Phase 9. In the planning process, the Government had once considered auctioning the land of Tung Tau Estate Block 23 for private development, however as Members and the public wanted to construct public housing there, HD finally decided to retain the land for the development of public housing.
25.Ms. SHUM Yuen-wah, Fernaadded that the paper aimed at introducing to Members the more detailed design of Tung Tau Estate Phase 9. HD planned to build two blocks of public housing, with 38 floors each measuring from the ground level. Compared with the previous option in 2003, the building height of the present option was greatly reduced. The design population would be 3200 for two blocks of buildings. To align with the planning of Kai Tak, HD had studied the impact of the present option on the ridgeline of Lion Rock from the vantage points of QuarryBay and Kai Tak respectively. It was found that the present option posed no substantial impact on the ridgeline of Lion Rock looking from different vantage points, and it complied with the guidelines for urban design of Hong Kong. As a lot of high-rise buildings were erected around Tung Tau Estate Phase 9, the height of the two blocks of public housing would not be prominent. HD would build a covered walkway facing Lok Sin Road at Tung Tau Estate Phase 9 for residents in the Estate and pedestrians. HD would also coordinate with other departments to enhance the greening work of Lok Sin Road to improve the environment. As Prince Edward Road East and Lok Sin Road in the south and north of Tung Tau Estate Phase 9 respectively were rather noisy, and so the design had to minimise the noise impact as far as possible. The present option would guarantee the least noise impact.