Enhancing cross-sector collaboration in the battle against COVID-19 2020-06-22The COVID-19 pandemic has once again placed the spotlight on the risk of our over-reliance on the city’s public healthcare services. Although part of the services can be shared by the private sector and primary healthcare service providers, some obstacles have to be removed in advance.
The new normal amid coronavirus pandemic: Challenges of telemedicine 2020-06-17The delivery of healthcare services has to adapt to a ‘new normal’ under the continuing coronavirus pandemic, such as making use of telemedicine to reduce the flow of people in hospitals, thereby balancing the infection risk and demand for maintaining essential health service. In fact, some public hospitals, private hospitals and telemedicine platforms have already launched video medical consultation services. Examining their experiences, what are the challenges facing telemedicine in Hong Kong?
Rethinking primary healthcare development in the wake of COVID-19 2020-06-15To focus resources on fighting the coronavirus, the Hospital Authority has suspended non-emergency services since January this year, resulting in a backlog of more than 1,000 cases. To alleviate the pressure on the public healthcare system, the society should draw on overseas experiences to unleash the potential of primary healthcare services.
Start afresh during the epidemic Expedite the long-term development of primary healthcare services in Hong Kong by drawing reference from seven selected places 2020-05-28The study ‘Moving towards universal health coverage: Overseas experiences on enhancing PHC’ examined the experiences in developing PHC services in seven selected places (England, Australia, Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, Israel and Mainland China). By making cross-references to their vision, policy directions and initiatives, the study aims at mapping out a primary healthcare service model that suits Hong Kong most.
Rethinking the role of primary healthcare system amidst COVID-19 outbreak 2020-05-21With the dedication and hard work of medical staff, the epidemic situation of COVID‐19 in Hong Kong has been easing up. However, facing the future challenges, the society should review its anti-epidemic strategies over the past few months as soon as possible. In fact, the potential of primary healthcare system has not yet been fully utilised - District Health Centre and family doctors can play a more important role during the epidemic outbreak.
Coronavirus outbreak: Health education amid public health emergency 2020-02-21Novel coronavirus has been rapidly spreading. To prevent virus invasion, people need to access first-hand health information in a convenient way. Facing the fast changing epidemic, in addition to the efforts of the government, how can civilians effectively join the battle of fighting the epidemic?
A new partnership of PHC model for doctors and nurses to strive for success 2020-02-03The Government has planned to set up health centres in all 18 districts to promote the primary healthcare (PHC) services. In the coming future, the roles of family doctors and nurses are going to change. How can citizens benefit from the optimised PHC model with a new partnership of doctors and nurses?
Overcoming two obstacles to promote inter-disciplinary collaboration in primary healthcare 2020-01-20Inter-disciplinary collaboration can help promote community based primary healthcare (PHC) services. Apparently, it is challenging to have health professionals from different backgrounds to work seamlessly together. The Government has to overcome two obstacles to enhance the collaboration between multi-disciplinary PHC healthcare teams.
Introducing ‘time bank’ to set primary healthcare services on ground 2020-01-15To promote public health through primary healthcare services, it is essential to establish a comprehensive service network. It not only requires a close cooperation between the Government, medical professionals and non-governmental organisations, but also the intangible power of community. A ‘time bank’ can be set up by engaging people in the neighborhood to build a supportive network.
Establishing a new statutory body to enhance regulatory standard of primary healthcare 2020-01-10In recent years, the Government has vigorously promoted primary healthcare (PHC) services with the emphasis on cross-disciplinary and cross-group collaboration. However, PHC services which are provided by different healthcare professionals, can hardly be standardised. The Centre proposes to establish a statutory ‘PHC Authority’ which aims at upgrading the regulatory standard of local PHC services.