New Territories West Cluster (NTWC)
The New Territories West Cluster (NTWC) delivers quality patient-centred services to 1.1 million people, covering the catchment areas of Tuen Mun and Yuen Long districts.
There are four hospitals and nine general out-patient clinics in the Cluster, providing a comprehensive range of services including emergency and general acute care, rehabilitation and convalescent care, and mental health service. The four hospitals are Tuen Mun Hospital (TMH), Pok Oi Hospital (POH), Castle Peak Hospital (CPH), and Siu Lam Hospital (SLH). Besides the four hospitals, NTWC also manages the Tuen Mun Ambulatory Care Centre, Tuen Mun Mental Health Centre, Tuen Mun Eye Centre, and the Butterfly Bay Laundry which share and support the patient load of the Cluster.
Key Achievements
To meet rising service demand, 13 hospital beds were added in POH to enhance its acute in-patient services while TMH augmented its oncology services with eight additional hospital beds. Besides, the capacity of emergency operating theatres at TMH was also strengthened.
On the out-patient and community side, the capacity of cataract service was expanded, so were ambulatory services of urology, rheumatology and gynaecological oncology. Palliative care for terminally ill patients was further strengthened by adopting end-of-life care pathways. In addition, one-stop primary care service was provided at the new Tin Shui Wai Community Health Centre at Tin Yip Road, delivering general out-patient, nursing and allied health services. Other primary care services of the Centre are scheduled to be opened in the next financial year.
NTWC has strengthened mental health services for the region through CPH. The Early Assessment Service for Young persons with psychotic disorders (EASY) was extended to adult patients newly diagnosed with psychosis and the Community Case Manager Programme was expanded to patients with severe mental illness. With the new Rapid Intensive Care Team, the Cluster responded to crisis situations involving patients with mental illness in the community. Psycho-geriatric outreach service was also enhanced to serve more private residential care homes for the elderly.
The Cluster continued to emphasise on quality and safety. A four-year full accreditation status granted by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards in 2010 recognised the standards of services provided by TMH in both quality and risk management. The momentum of service quality and safety continued in 2011-12 with safety of surgical operations enhanced, pharmacy service of general out-patient clinics expanded, as well as multi-disciplinary autistic service teams set up.
To keep modernising HA, advanced equipment installed in the Cluster during the year helped strengthen its technological infrastructure. In 2011-12, TMH has set up a satellite autologous haemopoietic stem cell transplant (Auto-HSCT) Centre. Handling 10 cases per year, the Centre further improved bone marrow transplant service in the New Territories West district. Laboratory testing for patients receiving new drug treatment for chronic hepatitis was also enhanced.
Advocating the core value of “People FIRST”, NTWC attaches much emphasis on staff training. A series of local and overseas training courses were organised in 2011-12, such as training for registered nurse, two-year preceptorship programme and structured programme for newly recruited allied health staff including medical laboratory technicians, diagnostic radiographers, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and prosthetist-orthotists.
NTWC has also adopted prudent approach in financial management to maintain a healthy financial status in 2011-12.