Hong Kong ombudsman finds shortage of slots at subsidised elderly day care centres in a third of city’s districts
- Supply did not meet demand Eastern, Southern, Wong Tai Sin, Sha Tin, Islands and Yuen Long districts, according to report
- Availability of venues and qualified staff remains issue, Ombudsman Winnie Chiu says
A third of Hong Kong’s districts could not supply enough places at subsidised day care centres for elderly residents under a pilot scheme to be made standard next month, the ombudsman said in a report released on Thursday.
The scheme, which was introduced in 2013 and implemented in three phases, allows elderly residents to obtain vouchers for services such as speech therapy, personal care or rehabilitation exercises provided by government-recognised organisations.
According to the ombudsman report, 5,289 elderly residents needed day care centre services in the city’s 18 districts as of the end of last year, but supply did not meet demand in six of them – Eastern, Southern, Wong Tai Sin, Sha Tin, Islands and Yuen Long.
Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin said the availability of venues and qualified staff remained a pressing issue, especially given the greying of society.
“With the increasing ageing population and greater demand for community care services, I think it is incumbent upon the government to try to find more venues and service providers to match the service needs,” she said.
Under a proposal made by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his policy address last year, the scheme is set to be made standard in the third quarter.
In response to the ombudsman’s investigation, the Social Welfare Department said the scheme would be standardised in September.
The department added that it would step up efforts to promote and refine the scheme.
As of last month, 7,377 elderly people were receiving services through the scheme, which requires residents to make a co-payment based on their financial situation, as part of the “affordable users pay” principle.
Eastern district suffered the most serious shortage of places at day care centres, offering 267 slots but there were 299 voucher-holders, while 276 residents remained on a separate waiting list.
Chiu recommended inviting more organisations to offer or extend services in districts with high demand. She said the department should also incorporate more data in its analysis to ensure a more comprehensive overview of the demand and supply of services at the district level.
The watchdog said it recognised authorities’ efforts of sending letters to eligible residents to inform them about the vouchers, which had resulted in an increase in use from about 60 per cent in the second phase to 86 per cent near the end of the third one.
But the report said the department should adopt a “multipronged approach” to encourage more people to use the scheme.
The watchdog urged the government to contact residents with vouchers who had not used them yet, and try to connect those on waiting lists to other service providers.
With the regularisation of the scheme, the voucher quota will increase in phases from the current 8,000 to 12,000 by 2025.
The programme will also be extended to cover rental of assistive technology products and purchase of services from two different providers at the same time. A new information system will also be launched.
A department spokesman said they hoped the new measures would attract more elderly residents and service providers to participate in the scheme.
The city’s population is ageing more rapidly than previously forecast, with figures for young people falling faster than government expectations, driving up the median age to an estimated 55½ years by 2046, according to the Post’s findings.
Government figures also show the number of births over the past three years was 40 per cent lower than forecast in 2017, after the Covid-19 pandemic and a wave of emigration hit the city.
Last year, authorities announced the Primary Healthcare Blueprint, a plan to shift healthcare away from a reliance on hospitals and towards district-based centres and the private sector to better manage the needs of a rapidly ageing population.
