Annual departmental report by the Director of Medical and Health Services / Hong Kong.

  • Hong Kong. Medical Department.
Date:
[1964]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Annual departmental report by the Director of Medical and Health Services / Hong Kong. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    mended its adoption, subject to the proviso that the estimates of cost, both capital and recurrent, might prove beyond the resources of the Colony. In view of this proviso, the plan was reviewed critically by an informal Working Party comprising members of the Colonial Secretariat and of the Medical and Health Department under the chairmanship of the Director of Medical and Health Services. The report of this Working Party was accepted by Executive Council in January, 1964, subject to the provision of necessary funds by the Finance Committee and to further detailed consideration of the plan at all stages; it was tabled subsequently as a White Paper in the Legislative Council. 10. The report was based on the stated policy of Government ‘to provide, directly or indirectly, low cost or free medical and personal health services to that large section of the community which is unable to seek medical attention from other sources’. It briefly reviewed the history of medical and health services in Hong Kong, in particular during the years following the Second World War and then examined in detail the immediate requirements for out-patient curative services and for hospital beds of various categories. 11. With regard to the requirements for out-patient services, the report recommended a standard urban clinic for each 100,000 of the urban population and a standard rural clinic for each 50,000 of the population in rural areas. Other recommendations were made for the provision of clinics offering certain specialized services, for example in ophthalmic diseases, tuberculosis and social hygiene. 12. Referring to the provision of hospital beds, the report estimated that by the end of 1963 there would be 2.91 hospital beds of all categories per 1,000 population; this estimation assumed that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the new Kwong Wah Hospital would be fully operational at the time. The distribution of beds amongst the various categories would be as detailed in Table 1. TABLE 1 PROVISION OF HOSPITAL BEDS (DECEMBER 1963) Total Beds General . 5,140 Maternity ... ... ... ... ... 1,893 Infectious . 307 Tuberculosis. 1,820 Mental . 1,176 Total ... ... ... ... 10,336 Ratio per 1,000 population 1.44 0.53 0.09 0.51 0.33 2.41 3