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Hong Kong
OpinionLetters

Letters | Hong Kong’s mental health services fell short due in part to a manpower shortage. Why deny it?

  • Readers discuss the government’s efforts to improve care services for mental health patients, and the waiting time to see a specialist in the public healthcare system

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People place flowers and leave notes at the shopping mall where two women were killed on June 2 by a mentally disturbed man. Photo: May Tse
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Tragedies of homicides involving known patients with mental health challenges are traumatic to the community because they are felt to be preventable.

In the wake of a rampage by a mentally disturbed man that left two women dead, the Advisory Committee for Mental Health met last Friday to explore ways to improve Hong Kong’s mental health services.
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According to the press release, the Hospital Authority briefed committee members on the treatment and support measures currently in place and the meeting concluded that, “At this stage, there is no sign of inadequacy in follow-up or oversight on symptoms due to resource or manpower constraints.” The immediate measures announced in response to the tragedy also did not focus on addressing a manpower shortage.

Did the mental healthcare system fail? Or should the tragedy be viewed as “an act of God”, like a natural disaster, that we should just stoically swallow as an unpredictable and unpreventable rare event?

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If someone died in a typhoon as a result of a failure of warning from the Observatory, we would ask whether our meteorological instruments are up to date, fit for purpose, and in compliance with industry standards. Is there any reason why we are not looking at our mental healthcare system from a similar perspective?

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