Breaking point: Hong Kong’s overburdened mental health care system in need of a fix
A plan for psychiatrists in the private sector to take on more patients and ease the strain on the public health system has been welcomed by the profession. But is the issue of treating mental illness just a question of resources?
A growing number of patients and a shortage of medical resources has created a ticking time bomb when it comes to treating mental illness in Hong Kong.
As the number of cases being diagnosed steadily rises, concerns have been raised about the capacity of the already overburdened public health care system to support patients – and their families. To compound the problem, the sluggish pace at which public hospitals can handle new cases of psychiatric patients is exacerbated by a shortage of doctors.
The most recent Hospital Authority estimates suggest up to 1.7 million Hongkongers suffer from different types of mental illnesses, with 70,000 to 200,000 of them considered to have severe conditions.
The number of new psychiatric cases registered in the specialist outpatient clinics in public hospitals has grown from 39,770 in 2009/2010 to 47,958 in 2014/2015.
Waiting times for mental health treatment are the longest of all the specialist services offered in the public health system. The longest waiting time among the seven hospital districts now stands at 166 weeks, or more than three years, for psychiatric patients in Hong Kong West to see a doctor in a public hospital.
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The situation has led the government to announce its intention to explore extending the public-private partnership model, which has been operating in general outpatient clinics, to “suitable and stable” psychiatric patients for follow-up to relieve the heavy burden on the public sector.