Kowloon East Cluster (KEC)
| Number of general outpatient clinics | 8 |
| Throughput | |
| Number of beds | 2,543 |
| Patient discharges* | 197,087 |
| A&E attendances | 316,829 |
| Specialist outpatient attendances (clinical) | 869,710 |
| General outpatient attendances | 997,733 |
| Full-time equivalent staff | 7,835 |
* Total inpatient, day patient discharges and deaths
In 2016-17, KEC continued to face escalating healthcare demand coupled with increasing disease complexity and an ageing population. With limited bed capacity and physical space constraint, the Cluster has strived to cope with service pressure areas through rationalisation and prioritisation, and boosted the service volume through enhanced productivity. KEC opened more medical day beds in UCH as well as more surgical day beds and coronary care beds in TKOH. In addition, the service capacity was augmented by establishing a new peritoneal dialysis service centre, and providing additional endoscopic sessions in TKOH. The Cluster also streamlined multi-disciplinary team support for patients with common mental disorder in specialist outpatient clinics and recruited a peer support worker to support patients with severe mental illness in the community.
KEC valued our staff effort in delivering professional and dedicated services to the public. To align with the corporate direction, the Cluster allayed high turnover by continuing the annual progression exercise for Patient Care Assistants working in wards with 24 hours services and additional promotion opportunities for Residents.
KEC adopted modern technology with a view to improving service quality as well as managing risks. The laboratory service was enhanced by providing additional hepatitis B virus DNA tests to cancer patients for prevention of hepatitis B reactivation.
To enhance partnership with patients and the community, KEC recruited additional allied health professionals and supporting staff to enhance rehabilitation service and training for patients’ caregivers in HHH.
In addressing the long-term pressure on physical space, the embarkation of UCH and HHH expansion projects epitomised a milestone for KEC. It is envisaged that the projects will not only elevate the overall service capacity, but also the resources for clinical and supporting services will be further synergised and aligned to augment service efficiency and quality.