Pamela TinandDanting Liu

Opinion | Hong Kong’s mental healthcare system must be expanded to meet residents’ growing needs

Demand is increasing for mental healthcare in Hong Kong, yet specialist services are overburdened

By strengthening community-based services, people could more easily access different levels of care across a wider range of places

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A survey taken during the fifth wave of the coronavirus in Hong Kong found that roughly half of the city’s residents were suffering from symptoms of depression. Photo: Shutterstock

Pamela TinandDanting Liu

Published: 6:45am, 18 Jan 2023

At the end of 2022, the government released the Primary Healthcare Blueprint, taking a decisive step in developing Hong Kong’s health system after years of challenges.

Yet, a glaring healthcare gap remains; little attention has been paid to Hongkongers’ growing mental health needs. In particular, the fragmented nature of mental healthcare dilutes the government’s capacity to serve patients holistically.

In line with the blueprint’s aim of integrating different elements of the health system and facilitating multidisciplinary collaboration, there is a critical need to restructure the mental health ecosystem to meet the needs of the public.

In a local survey conducted during the fifth wave of Covid-19, almost half the respondents reported symptoms of mild to severe depression. Meanwhile, public-sector specialist mental health services are overburdened, with the lowest mean waiting time for stable cases in a psychiatric specialist outpatient clinic being 14 weeks.

In its latest health policy report, “Towards a Fit-for-Purpose Mental Health System”, Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF) suggests that many mental health needs can be addressed outside the specialist setting. As such, it proposes that patients be offered a greater variety of community-based services.

These would span both the medical and social sectors, relying on general practitioners and family medicine doctors, psychological well-being practitioners and social workers, among others, to provide care to patients with stable mental health conditions.

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