Hospital Authority General Infirmary Service

I. Background

• Elders and disabled persons with chronic illnesses and requiring personal care support would better be supported to live in the community to maintain their social connection and quality of life. However, some of these elders and disabled persons with a constant and higher level of dependency may require long term care services in residential setting. Currently, many of these long term residential care services are being provided by the welfare sector, e.g. Care and Attention Homes and Nursing Homes. On the other hand, the Hospital Authority (HA) General Infirmary Service is positioned to cater for elders or disabled persons whose health conditions require long term medical care in hospital setting that are beyond the level of care provided by the welfare sector.

II. Who should apply?

• Elders and/or disabled persons with chronic illnesses and who have reached the stage at which active and intensive medical treatment cannot reverse their health conditions, and are in need of continuous medical and nursing care on top of the total dependency on their activities of daily living (such as bathing, toileting, feeding, grooming and transfer).
  
  
• Persons inappropriate for applying for the HA General Infirmary Service
  • Persons can be cared for
    • in Care and Attention Homes or Nursing Homes (For more details, please refer to the website of the Social Welfare Department by clicking this link: SWD – Residential Care Services for the Elderly)
      
      
    • by residential rehabilitation services (For more details, please refer to the website of the Social Welfare Department by clicking this link: SWD – Residential Care Services (Rehabilitation Services))
  • Severe mentally handicapped persons (For more details, please refer to the website of Hospital Authority by clicking this link: HA Infirmary and Rehabilitation Services for Adults with Severe and Profound Mental Handicap)
    
    
  • Persons on invasive mechanical ventilation or haemodialysis

III. How to apply?

1. Applicants must submit their application through a social worker / healthcare professional of Referring Offices designated by SWD (Please see NOTE 1) who will act as the Responsible Officer to initiate the application for the applicants.
2. The Responsible Officer will perform initial screening and submit the application on behalf of the applicant by using the application form [LDS Form 5a (Infirmary)] and MAIL to the HA Central Infirmary Waiting List (CIWL) Office.
3. Applicants are not allowed to choose individual Infirmary Units. They can indicate ONE choice regarding the region of preference for the HA General Infirmary Service on the application form (i.e. ‘No preference’, ‘Hong Kong’, ‘Kowloon’ or ‘the New Territories’).
4. The HA CIWL Office will review the appropriateness of the application based on the information provided and refer applicant to the HA Community Geriatric Assessment Team (CGAT) for assessment of eligibility.
   • Eligible applicant will be put on the Central Infirmary Waiting List (CIWL) for placement in infirmary beds. The HA CIWL Office will inform the Responsible Officer who will, in turn, notify the applicant. Placement will be offered on a first-come first-served basis according to the registration date of the application (Please refer to NOTE 2).
   • For non-eligible applicant, the HA CIWL Office will inform the Responsible Officer who will make other arrangements with the applicant as appropriate.
5. The applicant is obliged to inform the Responsible Officer for any change(s) to his/her information or records throughout the application process. The Responsible Officer should then update the HA CIWL Office by submitting the Updating Data Form [LDS Form 7a (Infirmary)]


Eligibility Criteria
For registration on the CIWL, applicants must fulfill the following admission criteria upon assessment by the HA Community Geriatric Assessment Team (CGAT):


1. Applicants with chronic illnesses and severe disability who are unable to be cared for at home or ordinary old age home either due to failing of environmental and/or caring support; and/or
2. Applicants with terminal illnesses requiring continuous medical or nursing care; and/or
3. Applicants with chronic illnesses who are in need of intensive professional medical and nursing care which is not available in community-based setting; and/or
4. Applicants, despite trial of intensive rehabilitation, remain incapacitated and bed-ridden requiring constant medical and/or nursing attention; and/or
5. Applicants with chronic illnesses beyond the care level of nursing home

Eligibility for Priority Application

Cases that are assessed to require frequent admissions and significant clinical care in hospital setting may be recommended for a priority application. Applicants of priority application will NOT be offered choices of preference on region, district or hospital for placement.

Enquiry

For enquiries regarding the application, the applicant should consult his/her Responsible Officer who will act as an overall coordinator throughout the application and admission process.

IV. Admission Procedures

1. When a HA central infirmary bed is available for the applicant, the HA CIWL Office will issue a letter to inform the Responsible Officer.
   
   
2. The Responsible Officer will notify the applicant for the details of the placement.

V. Withdrawal Procedures

1. If the applicant wishes to withdraw from the CIWL at any point of the application process or reject the placement offered, he/she should inform the Responsible Officer, who will notify the HA CIWL Office. This applicant will be delisted from the CIWL.
   
   
2. Applicants who have been delisted from the CIWL can re-apply for the HA General Infirmary Service as a new applicant. No back-dating arrangements will be made.

VI. General Information

• List of Infirmary Units in Hospital Authority
  
  
• Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

VII. Guidance Notes for Responsible Officer

• Application Procedures
  • Flow Chart
  • Checklist & Enquiry
    
    
• Useful Forms
  • Application Form [LDS Form 5a (Infirmary)] (English version only: PDF Format, MS Word Format)
  • Updating Data Form [LDS Form 7a (Infirmary)] (English version only: PDF Format, MS Word Format)

Hospital Authority
2014

NOTE 1: As stipulated in the SWD’s “Manual of Procedures on Registration and Allocation of Long Term Care Services (2021)”, the “Referring Offices” refers to:
(a) Integrated Family Service Centres (IFSCs)/Integrated Services Centres (ISCs);
(b) Medical Social Services Units (MSSUs);
(c) Placement Units (PUs);
(d) District Elderly Community Centres (DECCs);
(e) Neighbourhood Elderly Centres (NECs);
(f) Service providers of existing service users, or
(g) Others service units e.g. Family and Child Protective Service Units, Integrated Services Teams for Street Sleepers, etc.

NOTE 2: With effect from 1 November 2014, the definition of “registration date” under the Central Infirmary Waiting List of HA General Infirmary Service is revised from the “date when the applicant is assessed to be eligible” to “application receipt date”. The “application receipt date” is the date of receipt of Referring Office’s submission of [LDS Form 5a(Infirmary)] “Application for General Infirmary Service, Hospital Authority” for the purpose of applying for an infirmary placement in HA. The conversion arrangement of “registration date” for applications received before and after 1 November 2014 is summarized as follows:

• For application received and eligibility assessment completed on or before 31 October 2014, the “date when the applicant is assessed to be eligible” will be assigned as the “registration date” which should be a date on or before 31 October 2014.
• For application received but eligibility assessment NOT yet completed on or before 31 October 2014, 1 November 2014 will be assigned as the “registration date”.
• For application received on or after 1 November 2014, the “application receipt date” will be assigned as the “registration date” that falls on or after 1 November 2014.