Telemedicine would help Hong Kong elderly on mainland to get diagnosis

With the incident at a Tai Po nursing home where residents were left naked outside by staff, treatment of the elderly in Hong Kong reached a new low.

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying rightly said that the city's shortage of land for building "was a key culprit in the poor treatment of residents at its homes for the elderly" ("CY blames elder abuse on city's land shortage", May 29).

What are we going to do when there are two million elderly citizens by 2041?

Hong Kong lacks the basic infrastructure to house, care and feed the elderly. Although many Hong Kong pensioners have found a more comfortable retirement arrangement in cities on the mainland, when they need medical care they must return to the SAR and eventually abandon their retirement plan in China.

One solution to this problem is the use of telemedicine. Hong Kong residents can retire to communities in southern China, but still be connected to the Hong Kong medical and paramedical services that they need. Telemedicine enables physicians to conduct medical examinations without either party leaving consulting room or home.

This can be done by having a properly trained technician dispatched to an elderly person's home with a briefcase containing medical equipment. The technician can help a physician sitting in their Hong Kong office to examine the ears, nose and throat, heart sounds, chest auscultation, ocular fundi, pulse and blood pressure. Telemedicine can provide high-quality medical care for retirees in mainland cities hundreds of miles away. It is already in widespread use in Japan.