A 'community treatment order', which would impose mandatory non-hospital treatment, should be created for mental patients whose conditions are not severe enough for a court-imposed hospital order.
This was one of five recommendations aimed at improving mental health services made yesterday by a Hospital Authority review committee set up after a mentally ill man chopped two people to death at Kwai Shing East Estate three months ago.
The committee, led by Professor John Leong Chi-yan, recommended a personalised care programme, which it pointed out was already under way, with the authority planning to hire about 400 psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists and social workers as case managers over three years to monitor 20,000 mental patients living in the community.
It also called for stronger multidisciplinary teams of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and medical social workers to share information and regularly review patients' conditions; improved communication between departments, such as the police, Housing Department, Social Welfare Department and Hospital Authority; and public education to help families spot any irregularities in patients for early intervention.
Leong said community treatment orders, a milder alternative to hospital orders, were used in many places, such as the US, Britain, Australia and Canada, where responses were positive. He did not see any difficulty in adopting them in Hong Kong.
Such an order targets patients who do not need a hospital stay but need treatment and close monitoring. It requires patients to live with family, attend doctor consultations and rehabilitation services, and receive visits by community nurses.
Leong said introduction of community treatment orders required legislation, which would take at least a year or two to pass.