* Total inpatient, day patient discharges and deaths
KEC recruited additional nurses to meet operational needs at acute settings and high pressure areas. More frontline allied health professionals were recruited to enhance support for patients requiring multi-disciplinary care and rehabilitation. Additional patient care assistants were posted in allied health departments to share out simple clinical tasks and relieve clerical workload.
Measures were implemented to better manage growing service demand. 116 beds were added during the year to strengthen inpatient service. To shorten the specialist waiting lists, KEC increased new case quota with collaboration of clinical staff. GOPC episodic quota was also increased by 6,700 attendances to meet growing demand of the elderly. The ambulatory chemotherapy service and haemodialysis service were also enhanced. The first autologous transplant in KEC was successfully carried out in September 2013 at the newly established Autologous-Haemopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Centre. The new pharmacy at the new ambulatory care block in TKOH provided one-stop service for out-patient care.
KEC enhanced community care for mental health patients by providing case management service to 700 patients with severe mental illness living in the Sai Kung district. The mental health service was also enhanced by providing recovery oriented treatment programmes for patients in psychiatric admission wards.
Service quality and safety were improved. KEC enhanced cancer diagnostic services by providing 70 additional predictive molecular tests for lung, breast and colorectal cancers. Minimally invasive surgery technique was adopted in hysterectomy surgeries for suitable gynaecological patients. The Organization-Wide Survey for hospital accreditation of UCH was successfully held in March 2014.
To ensure adequate resources for service needs, the Cluster coordinated service re-provisioning of Kwun Tong Jockey Club GOPC. Capacity for patient support service was strengthened, particularly in medical record, domestic service and cluster transport service. The service of the out-sourced Shum Wan Laundry was extended to HHH. KEC continued to expand the non-emergency ambulance transfer service ambulance fleet with nine additional drivers and attendants to shorten waiting time and improve punctuality.
The expansion works of TKOH were completed in 2013, providing better healthcare facilities and services to the public. The alteration and improvement works of UCH commenced in March 2013 and would be completed in 2014. The hospital decanting plan would then be activated to tie in with the hospital’s expansion project. Meanwhile, the expansion project of HHH was in a preparatory stage. It was envisaged that the rehabilitation and convalescent services in the Cluster would be further improved.
