Hospital group sets up one-stop centre for cleft deformity

Hospitals in Kowloon East have set up the city's first one-stop centre for cleft lip and palate operations, set to handle half of all new cases every year.

The centre, based at United Christian Hospital in Kwun Tong, brings together a team of medical experts in areas ranging from obstetrics and cleft surgery to orthodontics and speech therapy, and is said to offer all the services children born with cleft deformities need under one roof.

Consultant of the multi-discipline cleft service team Dr Kelvin Liu Kam-wing said previous studies in the United Kingdom had found the treatment of cleft deformities more effective when there was a complete and extensive network of associated medical professionals.

'We have already handled more than 30 cases this year and the figure should reach nearly 50 by the end of the year,' he said.

United Christian Hospital treated 39 cases last year and 32 in 2008, prior to the opening of the centre.

Liu said one in 700 newborns suffer from a cleft lip or palate. The number of cleft deformity cases has been on the rise, reaching about 100 new cases every year as the birth rate surges due to an influx of pregnant women from the mainland.

'Cleft deformities should be treated soon after birth because the earlier the bones are moulded, the easier it would be for surgery,' Liu said.