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Following is a question by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, in the Legislative Council today (January 22):
Question:
Regarding residential care services for the elderly and persons with disabilities, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and those for people with disabilities (RCHDs) in Hong Kong in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by the type and mode of operation of the RCHEs and RCHDs;
(2) of the respective numbers of service places and respite service places provided by various types of RCHEs and RCHDs in Hong Kong, and the respective numbers of persons waiting for subsidised services, in each of the past three years;
(3) of the respective numbers of employees in different types of RCHEs and RCHDs in Hong Kong in each of the past three years (set out by year and type of workers in tables of the same format as Tables 1 to 3);
(4) of the age distribution of the residents living in the following types of RCHEs in 2012-2013, including (i) nursing homes, (ii) care and attention homes for the elderly, (iii) homes for the aged, (iv) hostels for the elderly, (v) contract RCHEs, (vi) private care and attention homes for the elderly participating in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme (EBPS), (vii) nursing homes under the Nursing Home Place Purchase Scheme and (viii) private RCHEs (set out in Table 4);
(5) of the age distribution of the residents living in the following types of RCHDs in 2012-2013, including (i) halfway houses, (ii) long stay care homes, (iii) hostels for moderately mentally handicapped persons, (iv) hostels for severely mentally handicapped persons, (v) hostels for severely physically handicapped persons, (vi) care and attention homes for severely disabled persons, (vii) care and attention homes for the aged blind, (viii) supported hostels and (ix) integrated vocational training centres with residential service (set out in Table 5); and
(6) of the age distribution of the children / youth living in (i) special child care centres and (ii) small group homes for mildly mentally handicapped children/integrated small group homes in 2012-2013 (set out in Table 6)?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the questions raised by the Hon Cheung Kwok-che is as follows:
(a) The respective numbers of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) with a breakdown by types in the past three years are set out in Table 7.
The respective numbers of residential care homes for persons with disabilities (RCHDs) with a breakdown by type in the past three years are set out in Table 8.
(b) The respective numbers of residential care places provided by various types of RCHEs in the past three years are set out in Table 9.
Concerning elderly residential respite service, in addition to the 11 designated residential respite places provided by subvented RCHEs, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) also makes use of the casual vacancies of the subsidised places in all subvented nursing homes, care-and-attention homes and contract homes to provide residential respite service. Since March 2012, all private RCHEs participating in EBPS have provided residential respite service as well.
The number of persons waiting for subsidised residential care places for the elderly in the past three years is as follows:
Number of persons on the waiting list
Nursing home Care-and-
As at places attention places
-------------- ------------ -----------------
End-March 2011 6 409 20 342
End-March 2012 6 456 21 432
End-March 2013 6 272 22 546
The respective numbers of places provided by various types of RCHDs in the three years are set out in Table 10.
As at end-March 2013, various types of RCHDs provided a total of 248 residential respite places for persons with disabilities aged six or above through designated places or casual vacancies. As announced by the Chief Executive in the Policy Address this year, we will allocate additional resources to enhance the day and residential respite service in 2014-15 to relieve the pressure of the family members / carers of persons with disabilities.
The respective numbers of persons waiting for the service of various types of subsidised RCHDs in the past three years are set out in Table 11.
(c) Staffing of all RCHEs and RCHDs must be in compliance with the requirements of relevant ordinances. Besides, all SWD-subsidised residential care homes are required to comply with the staffing provision under the Essential Service Requirements of the Funding and Service Agreements or the service contracts. As long as the RCHEs and RCHDs concerned fulfill the relevant requirements mentioned above, they may flexibly deploy their resources for staff recruitment. SWD does not keep statistics on the number of staff in various types of RCHEs and RCHDs.
(d) Subsidised residential care services for the elderly aim to provide residential care and facilities for elderly persons aged 65 or above who, for personal, social, health and / or other reasons, cannot be adequately taken care of at home. Persons aged between 60 and 64 may also apply for subsidised residential care places for the elderly if there is a proven need.
In other words, all service users of subsidised residential care places for the elderly are eligible persons aged 60 or above. SWD does not keep statistics on the age distribution and the respective percentages.
(e) The age distribution of service users for various types of residential care services for persons with disabilities as at the end of December 2012 was set out in Table 12.
(f) The age distribution of service users for residential special child care centre and small group home for mildly mentally handicapped children / integrated small group home as at the end of December 2012 was as follows:
Special child care centre
Number of service users
(percentage in the total
Age number of users)
------- ------------------------
Below 4 64 (63.4%)
5-9 37 (36.6%)
10-14 Not applicable
15-19 Not applicable
20 or above Not applicable
Total 101
Small group home for mildly mentally handicapped children / integrated small group home
Number of service users
(percentage in the total
Age[Note] number of users)
--------- -----------------------
6-8 3 (4.7%)
9-11 10 (15.9%)
12-15 25 (39.7%)
16-18 25 (39.7%)
Total 63
[Note]: Statistics categorised according to the age distribution specified in the question (i.e. below 4, 5-9, 10-14, 15-19 and above 20) are not readily available.
Ends/Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:48
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