Hospital Authority pursues reforms to enhance governance and strengthen safety
The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:
The Hospital Authority (HA) today (November 22) released the report of the Review Committee on the Management of the Public Hospital System (the Review Committee). The HA fully accepts the report and will gradually implement all recommendations as soon as possible to enhance governance, strengthen safety and actively promote reforms. With a spirit of innovation and change, the HA will strive to improve its services comprehensively. The HA will focus on strengthening governance, enhancing accountability, and fostering a safety culture to ensure thorough follow-up and effective implementation of measures to build a public hospital system that meets the needs of the community.
The Chairman of the HA, Mr Henry Fan, stated, "We express our profound gratitude to the Review Committee (Annex 1), led by Professor Fok Tai-fai, for conducting a comprehensive review of public hospital management matters. TheReview Committee worked tirelessly. In addition to holding intensive meetings and reviewing documents, the Review Committee also visited public hospitals for on-site inspections several times and met with frontline staff, hospital management, patients, and relatives. The report is highly detailed, summarising the challenges faced by the HA into five key areas and proposing 31 improvement recommendations. Each recommendation is invaluable and will profoundly impact the future operations, governance, and patient safety of public hospitals."
Mr Fan emphasised that the HA fully understands that pursuing change and innovation to meet the needs of the public is the fundamental basis for the sustainable development of the public healthcare system and for enhancing the well-being of citizens. Therefore, the HA will align with the Government's direction and fully implement the Review Committee's recommendations as soon as possible.
The HA will establish a high-level Governance and Structural Reform Committee (Reform Committee) under the HA Board. This Reform Committee will be chaired by Mr Fan and include representatives from the Health Bureau, as well as members with extensive experience in corporate governance. The Reform Committee will provide advice on governance and structural reforms for the HA, guiding it to address challenges ahead. The remaining recommendations will be followed up and implemented through the existing structure of the HA. Departments and the Reform Committee will regularly report their progress to the Health Bureau and the HA Board.
The Chairman of the Review Committee, Professor Fok, remarked, "Over the past few months, the Review Committee has focused on reviewing governance issues in the public hospital system and providing forward-looking improvement recommendations. These suggestions aim to assist the HA in enhancing risk management, strengthening governance, and reinforcing safety to address future challenges."
The Review Committee acknowledged that the HA manages one of the world's largest and most complex healthcare systems. The rate of sentinel events in Hong Kong public hospitals was approximately 0.32 per 100 000 population, significantly lower than rates in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and other countries. TheReview Committee also recognised several strengths within the HA system, including a professional and dedicated healthcare workforce, an advanced incident reporting system, and proactive adoption of information technology.
The Review Committee proposed 31 improvement recommendations (Annex 2), which primarily focus on the following areas:
Strengthening governance
Clarify the roles, responsibilities, and authority of different levels of staff in relation to quality and safety;
Clearly define the specific roles, responsibilities, and objectives of the Head Office, hospital clusters, individual hospitals, and departments regarding quality and safety.
Enhancing accountability
Develop a patient safety accountability framework for senior management, incorporating safety metrics into performance appraisals evaluations to hold senior leaders accountable for patient safety;
Introduce a just culture frameworkwhere staff accountability is determined based on established guidelines that distinguish between human error, at-risk behaviour, and reckless conduct, with appropriate response protocols.
Fostering a culture of safety
Implement a safety culture programmethat prioritises non-punitive reporting;
Create a "speak-up" culture, provide staff training and develop an open communication environment;
Promote a healthy risk culture, offer training to enhance their risk awareness and competency;
Strengthen clinical supervision and guidance to improve junior staff's skills, competencies, and effectiveness, ensuring care safety.
Other recommendations
Establish a rapid incident response team;
Design a spokesperson preparedness programme;
Establish clear incident public disclosure guidelines;
Align resources with service demand.
The HA will fully align with policy directions of the Government, formulate comprehensive plans, and monitor the progress and effectiveness of the implementation of the recommendations. This will enhance the HA's governance and safety, ensuring the continued provision of high-quality healthcare services to patients.
DCS chairs sixth meeting of Task Force on District Governance
The Deputy Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Cheuk Wing-hing, chaired the sixth meeting of the Task Force on District Governance (TFDG) today (November 22) to continuously follow up on the implementation progress of eight district initiatives in accordance with the overall strategies set by the Steering Committee on District Governance (SCDG), chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration.
Mr Cheuk said, "The TFDG fully supervises all departments to actively follow up on the implementation of various district initiatives as assigned by the SCDG, in order to enhance the capabilities and efficacy of district governance as well as promote the well-being of society. All departments will continue to adhere to the mission of addressing people's needs and achieving practical benefits for the public by actively following up on various district issues with a view to fostering a greater sense of fulfilment, happiness and security among the people."
The SCDG chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration has formulated strategies in relation to the eight district issues, covering different areas including support of children and the elderly, environmental hygiene, law and order, road safety, pedestrian facilities and estate environment, as well as digital inclusion. The TFDG continued to follow up on the implementation details and progress of the eight district issues at the meeting, including:
1. Expanding after-school care service and enhancing support for parents
The School-based After School Care Service Scheme has been expanded to cover over 110 primary schools in 18 districts in the 2024-25 school year. As of end-October, 113 primary schools have participated in the scheme with over 5 000 beneficiary students.
2. Caring for the elderly and enhancing community support
In respect of caring for the elderly, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department has provided suitable fitness equipment for senior citizens at 23 leisure venues to encourage the elderly to exercise more. In addition, they will organise approximately 80 free sessions of Briefing on Outdoor Fitness Training for about 2 000 participants, mainly targeting the elderly, at the fitness corners of 18 parks in 2024-25.
Under the Social Welfare Department's pilot scheme, as of October, the District Services and Community Care Teams of Tsuen Wan District and Southern District have visited and contacted more than 5 600 households of singleton and doubleton elderly persons, as well as carers of elderly persons and persons with disabilities; and have referred needy cases to relevant social welfare units for follow-up.
3. Fostering clean markets and mobilising the community to participate in anti-rodent work
To improve the environment of public markets, the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) is expediting toilet enhancement projects in public markets or cooked food markets, with a view to completing 23 enhancement projects by end-2025.
Furthermore, the pilot scheme on stall improvement at the Queen Street Cooked Food Market was completed in September this year. The reopened Cooked Food Market has attracted more customers and has received positive feedback from stall tenants and the public. The FEHD will continue to identify other suitable venues for stall improvement work.
4. Enhancing public order and combating crimes on all fronts
To enhance public safety, the Police plan to first install closed-circuit television (CCTV) at locations with a higher crime rate and pedestrian flow across districts in order to serve as a deterrent against street crimes and as an aid in their investigation. From April this year until now, the Police has completed the installation of over 550 sets of CCTV in various districts, which has assisted them to quickly solve 70 criminal cases and has achieved a significant impact on fighting crime. The Police will continue to enhance the use of technology to strengthen their efforts in fighting and preventing crime. The target is to complete installing 2 000 sets of CCTV in 2025.
To combat deception cases, the Police, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, has extended the coverage of the Suspicious Account Alert for Internet banking and physical branches transactions since August 2024, for providing enhanced protection to customers against rising fraud risks.
5. Improving pedestrian facilities and ensuring road safety
The Highways Department (HyD) has completed the repaving of 37 footpath sections, and will finish the repaving of the other three footpath sections before the end of this year. The HyD plans to expand the repaving work to an additional 40 footpath sections starting next year. The Transport Department has also completed the installation of auxiliary pedestrian crossing devices with red light-beam projections at 97 pedestrian crossing black spots in various districts.
6.Enhancing the walking experience for citizens and creating a pedestrian-friendly environment
The HyD is conducting renovation and beautification works for 36 footbridges and pedestrian subways, and works for nine structures have been completed. The HyD has also completed the installation of bench railings for citizens to sit and rest at 10 suitable locations on a trial basis. The HyD will continue to identify suitable locations for installing these bench railings next year.
7.Improving the environment of public housing estates and creating comfortable homes
To improve the environment of public housing estates, the Housing Department has commenced phased enhancement works for areas within 15 public rental housing estates, including improvement to peripheral environment and installation of suitable facilities.
8. Caring for the elderly and promoting digital inclusion
The Digital Policy Office (DPO) has completed the approval of project proposals submitted by institutions/organisations for the Digital Inclusion Programme for the Elderlies, with a view to commencing the first batch of projects by the end of this year. The entire programme targets to benefit at least 100 000 elderly persons. The DPO will launch a city-wide promotion campaign to encourage the elderly to actively engage in digital living.
Mr Cheuk thanked the departments for their dedicated efforts in advancing the above work and achieving good progress. He urged departments to continue actively following up on various livelihood issues and to strengthen their work on district management, with a view to addressing people's concerns and responding to their needs through practical actions.
DCS chairs sixth meeting of Task Force on District Governance Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases
