Overview of the Primary Health Care System in Hong Kong

Overview of the unproblematic health C be System in Hong KongStudent separate MAN Ho YanIntroductionHong Kong average carriage expectancy is unmatched the longest city among the world, regular longer than roughly developed countries much(prenominal) as America, Japan (Lee et al., 2016). According to the statistic give upd by the plane section of wellness in 2016, the life expectancy of Hong Kong male and female are 81.2 and 87.3 respectively. The reason why Hong Kong is having this honor posterior be related to various factors. Generall(a)y speaking, to a greater extent and more people befuddle started to take criminal maintenance of their puff upness. For example, they read a variety of food choice, buying food from m all places with a comparatively reason open price. The Hong Kong g bothplacenment likewise covers lots of effort in wellness promotion, like encouraging people to do abounding exercise per workweek and eat wellnessily with less oil, salt, sugar and so on Citizens are able to find this kind of wellness information easily through television, advertisements, or the Internet. In terms of policy making, Hong Kong government has set up regulations restricting smoking in Hong Kong. Smoking in restricted area is prohibited, in high spiritser(prenominal) regulation in tobacco trading, as well as the advertisements of tobacco, affix or showed to the humankind. Together with the smoking cessation program provided by the government, the result of people smoke is kept decreasing throughout these years (Hong Kong Council on Smoking and wellness, 2016).Nonetheless, an early(a) important factor that makes Hong Kong people tramp have the longest life expectancy in the world is due to Hong Kong has a countywide wellness awe rake trunk. Including both(prenominal) worldly concern and hush-hush health work, from out-patient clinic, specialist out-patient clinic, scour in hospitalization, Hong Kong health bid organization has a high flavour and high standard of health delivery dish out. With the advanced health check checkup examination examination technology, all the Hong Kong citizens sack enjoy the health service, no matter what kind of economic status of oneself. They can commit the health service. Everyone will be provided with adequate health distribute service provided by all health criteria. As a result, Hong Kong citizens can have a higher chance to have a longer life expectancy.In the following paragraph, a brief overview of the current Hong Kong health dread ashes will be discussed, followed by the discussion of one of the major offices of the entirely system in Hong Kong, base wellness safekeeping, by looking at the working principles of the system and the services provided to the mankind. Last but not least, the health apprehension system in Hong Kong though is comparatively perfect than other countries. There are some rooms of improvement, which will be discussed in the recommendation part.Hong Kong current health handle Systempresent the health cautiousness system in Hong Kong is running under a dual-track system, they are familiar and tete-a-tete heavenss. These vault of heavens deliver contrasting services from basal, secondary and even tertiary care. unrestricted health care sector is the core of the solely healthcare system, providing health services to all the citizens. In other words, the unexclusive healthcare sector is the basic system in maintaining the health of the residential area. On the other hand, personal healthcare provides an alternative choice for citizens to remove (Ko, 2013). These services usually have a higher cost, but will provide a more accessible and relatively higher quality healthcare service than common healthcare service. If lymph nodes can afford the cost, they may choose semi hole-and-corner(a) health care service according to their own proneness (Kong, 2015). tout ensemble public health care s ervices in Hong Kong are regulated by the Food and Health Bureau, HKSAR. The major role of it is ambit up policies and distributing resources to public healthcare services to operate and providing service for the fraternity (HKSAR, 2016). Under the regulation of Food and Health Bureau, there are ii more departments in providing different kinds of public health care services. The division of Health is responsible for the management of public health like authority Clinics, Student Health portions Centre, Maternal and Child Health Centres etc. The Hospital Authority is responsible for the management of public hospitals, for instance, public hospitals, universal out-patient clinics, special out-patient clinics (HKSAR, 2016). private health care service, involve mainly hospital services, such as private hospitals, private practitioners, and private Chinese practitioners. All the private hospitals, private medical clinics are regulated by the Department of Health, and they should o bey the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Home Registration Ordinance (Cap. 165) and the medical checkup Clinics Ordinance (Cap. 343) (HKSAR, 2010).3. Primary Health Care ServicesPrimary health care is an important category in the health care system since it helps to maintain the health of the biotic community, the work should be done goodly and comprehensively. This is because foremost-string health care is the scratch step of contact between patients with their family members and health professional (WHO, 2008). Generally speaking, primitive health care aims to prevent any disease occur in the early stage, as well as improve personal health condition. These kinds of actions can help in raze the opportunity of suffering diseases and thus, reduce the needs of a high take aim of health care like that more intensive health care. The full-length health expenditure can be reduced for both the client oneself and also the whole health care system (HKSAR, 2008). A correct a nd effective victimization of elemental health care system can benefit the use of resources and their allocation to another part of the system. For example, primary election health care for senior, manipulation on long-term disease etc.3.1 underway Primary Heath Care Service in Hong KongBeing the first contact point of the health care, primary health care does allow health promotion, patient-based health care, disease prevention, and medicine care. In Hong Kong, primary health care services are mainly provided by the private family doctors, public health care sectors will integrate with those private health care sectors to provide different dimension of specialist and hospital services. However, patients have to pay for all of the cost to the private health care services. Public health sectors its own will provide cosmopolitan out-patient clinics, for those who cannot afford the cost of private primary health service (HKSAR, 2010). The Department of Health functions various public activities for community care. With the working principle of protecting the health of the whole community and the tribe, Department of Health will bring along with disease surveillance, transmitted diseases harbor among the community, public health regulation as well as licensing, implement different kinds of health measures, such as tobacco keep in line etc. (HKSAR, 2010). In set to provide a comprehensive health care, different discipline or health care professionals should work together, including general practitioners, nurses, Chinese medicine practitioners, and related health care professionals and health care providers among the community.Early in 1990, the Working Party on Primary Health Care established a report, to have a comprehensive query of the primary health care system in Hong Kong, as well as recommending the strategies in order to strengthen the system. Since then, different primary health care services started to be established. For example, in 1994, t he Woman Health Service has been set up. Introduce health service for women who aged 64 or below. In 1995, the Student Health Service has been established, which give general medical checkup, health promotion etc. for primary and secondary students. Elderly Health Service was established in 1998, providing preventive care, giving support on of age(p) centres and elderly homes (Food and Health Bureau, 2010). Throughout the years, more and more primary health care services have been organised or organism reformed.In October 2008, a reform of the Working Group on Primary Care has been established by the Health and Medical Development informative Committee and operated by the Secretary of the Food and Health Bureau (Food and Health Bureau, 2010). The working group is mainly on providing advice on critical nurture for primary care. Several working tasks have been set up by the group including establishing primary health care abstract models and related exemplar protocols, constructi ng the Primary Care Directory, and recommending an effective primary health care service delivery model (HKSAR, 2010). All these working principles are aiming at enhancing primary health care service in Hong Kong. The group is composed of both representatives of public and private sectors, for instance, patients group, health professionals, health administrators, and related stakeholders.Regarding the working principles, the primary health care conceptual model and protocol is targeting on the conceptual models and guidelines on hypertension and Diabetes Mellitus for the use of health care professionals.Primary Care Directory is a program set up by the Primary Care Office, which is under the regulation of the Department of Health, established in 2010. This program aims at supporting and coordinating primary health care service increment in Hong Kong, establishing primary health care developing strategies and operation. The Directory is operated by different health professionals, he alth administrators, and related stakeholders from the Food and Health Bureau. In order to have a better co-operation between various disciplines, and to ensure they have relevant professional knowledge to develop primary health care system (Primary Care Office, 2017). The government will also help in training primary health care providers and col projectate with the Directory and those health professionals. The public can assess to the Primary Care Directory to search for their own primary health care providers according to their health needs.In terms of community health networks, the regimen will propose projects based on the conceptual models and reference book with the health care professionals, health care providers, public and private health care sectors, non-governmental organizations, and local universities. Aims at setting up localized health centre, provide a comprehensive and coordinate primary health care service to the community. 3.2 Primary Health Care for Elderly a ge population in Hong Kong is a serious problem, according to the statistic provided by the nose count and Statistic Department in 2015, it is estimated that in mid-2024, 22% of the Hong Kong citizens are aged over 65 and over 65. Nonetheless, the upshot of elderly will keep increase in the following years. 20 years later in 2044, the population rate for those aged 65 and over will become 31%. More elderly will have an effect on the labor workforce, more workers are needed to support those retired elderly (Tollefson, 2015).The increase of number of elderly also will affect to the health care system. Normally, elderly will have a higher chance of developing inveterate disease due to the decrease on the body mechanism. As a result, they will use health services more often. The government has to delegate more resources in maintaining the health of this population. For example, health promotion, more resources to the hospitals in set the chronic disease, ensuring all the functional ability etc. (Sin et al., 2015). A comprehensive primary health care framework is therefore needed to be established in order to relieve the pressure of the medical services and also the whole health care system in a long-term, to achieve a sustainable development.Primary health care in elderly is served as a preventive measure, a better control of the chronic disease etc. The services usually provided by the private family doctors. They will give health related information to the elderly, having risk assessment, and see medication (Sin et al., 2015). The supportive measures not only help the elderly, but their family members also gain benefit from it. They can spend less time and property in paying for the health care service.4. Recommendations 4.1 Allocation of the manpowerAs mentioned, most of the tasks are performed by the Department of Health, the health professionals, like doctors, nurses, even the Secretary of the Food and Health Bureau is come from a medical background. T he workload of the health professionals, especially those who work in hospitals, is very high. In fact, they almost need to perform all the tasks. There is not enough manpower to take care of a huge amount of clients every day. From paper work or even the driver of the ambulance are all health professionals. The government should revise of the job allocation in hospitals or related work field, to cut back the workload of the health professionals, and thus, have a better working performance to provide a higher quality of health care to the clients.4.2 Use of completing and Alternative MedicineNowadays in Hong Kong is mainly use conventional medicine as medical treatment. Although it still has its effectiveness, Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapy is an alternative way that can be used in public primary health care service. CAM therapy refers to an approach using together with western medicine, focusing on the treatment of a whole person (Mayo Clinic, 2014). The Hon g Kong Baptist Hospital is one of the hospitals that provide Chinese Medicine medication. However, the use of CAM therapy is not quite common in public health care sectors, most of the therapies are provided by the private sector. thus it is suggested that the Government can build up or set up clinics that mainly use CAM therapy for primary health care, letting those who cannot afford the high cost of private health care sector. A combination of CAM therapy and traditional medicine lower the use of main hospital resources and as a result, a better resource allocation.4.3 A Balance between public and private health care sectorsAs mentioned by Griffiths (2012), private sector is the major provider of primary health care, around 70% of it is provided by family doctor, private clinics etc. Moreover, there are more and more private clinics being established, since the practitioners want to have more economic income. Therefore, the two sectors can cooperate with each other, such as the G eneral Outpatient Clinic Public Private Partnership is one of the ways to solve this problem (Cheung, 2015). Even clients whenever use the private health care service can enjoy a lower cost if they are transferred from the public sector. This can lower the workload and the number of clients in public sectors, and also the clients can have a relatively better quality of primary health care service. The Government shall implements effective and comprehensive strategies between public and private health care sectors. 5. ConclusionBeing the longest life expectancy among the world, it is no distrust that Hong Kong has several of advantages owing to this result. As mentioned from the above, the quality and standard of the health care system in Hong Kong is higher than many developed countries. This plays an important role for community health development. Primary health care system is the first step for the medical treatment between clients and medical providers. Therefor an effective an d comprehensive primary health care system is essential. This can lower the time spending on medical treatment afterwards. The resources using in the system can be reallocate. However the whole still has some problems, government should cooperate with public and private health care sector in order to implement an effective policy for providing adequate medical service to the community. 6. ReferencesCensus and Statistics Department. (2015). Hong Kong Population Projections. Hong Kong HKSAR. Retrieved 27 environ from http//www.statistics.gov.hk/pub/B1120015062015XXXXB0100.pdfCheung, W.L. (2015). Public Private Partnership. Retrieved 27 environ from http//www3.ha.org.hk/ppp/homepage.aspx?lang=engFood and Health Bureau. (2010). My Health My Choice Healthcare Reform Second Stage Consultation Document. Hong Kong HKSAR. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.myhealthmychoice.gov.hk/pdf/consultation_full_eng.pdfFood and Health Bureau. (2010). Our partner for better health Primary Care Developm ent in Hong Kong Strategy Document. Hong Kong HKSAR. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.fhb.gov.hk/download/press_and_publications/otherinfo/101231_primary_care/e_strategy_doc.pdfGriffiths, S.M. Lee, J.P.M. (2012). Developing primary care in Hong Kong evidence into practice and the development of reference frameworks. Hong Kong Medical Journal, 18(5), 429-434.Hong Kong Baptist Hospital (n.d.). Chinese Medicine Clinic. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.hkbh.org.hk/eng/hospital_service_chinese_medicine_clinic.phpHKASR. (2008). Appendix B Hong Kongs Current Healthcare System. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.fhb.gov.hk/beStrong/files/consultation/appendixb_eng.pdfHKSAR. (2010). Appendix C Hong Kongs Current Private Healthcare Sector. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.myhealthmychoice.gov.hk/pdf/appendixC_eng.pdfHKSAR. (2016). Overview of the Health Care System in Hong Kong. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.gov.hk/en/residents/health/hosp/overview.htmKo, W.M. (2013). HK healthcare is a dual-track system. Retrieved 27 March from http//archive.news.gov.hk/en/ enroll/html/2013/04/20130409_190409.shtmlKong, X.Y., Yang, Y., Gao, J., Guan, J., Liu, Y., Wang, R.Z., Xing, B., Li., Y.N. Ma, W. B. (2015). Overview of the health care system in Hong Kong and its referential import to mainland china. Journal of the Chinese Medical Association, 78, 569-573.Lee, D. Cheah, S. (2016). Hong Kong women and men enjoy worlds longest life expectancy due to low smoking rates, health experts claim. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/ condition/1995947/hong-kong-women-and-men-enjoy-worlds-longest-lifeMayo Clinic. (2014). Complementary and alternative medicine. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/alternative-medicine/art-20045267Sin, C.K.L, Fu, S.N., Tsang, C.S.H., Tsui,W.W.S. Chan, F.H.W. (2015). Prevention in primary care is better than cure The Hong Kong Ref erence Framework for Preventive Care for quondam(a) Adults translating evidence into practice. Hong Kong Medical Journal, 21(4), 353-359.Tollefson, E. (2015, November 25). Hong Kong has a problem with population ageing, rather than an elderly problem. South China Morning Post. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/1883166/hong-kong-has-problem-population-ageing-rather-elderlyWorld Health Organization. (2008). The World Health Report 2008 Primary Health Care (Now More Than Ever). Retrieved 27 March from http//www.who.int/whr/2008/en/Hong Kong Baptist Hospital (n.d.). Chinese Medicine Clinic. Retrieved 27 March from http//www.hkbh.org.hk/eng/hospital_service_chinese_medicine_clinic.php