Hong Kong authorities vow to improve respite services after ombudsman’s probe
Social Welfare Department calls for operators to remove unnecessary checks, while vowing to take to task those who fail to resolve issues
Hong Kong social welfare authorities have pledged to improve their care home respite services, demanding that operators remove unnecessary background and medical checks while vowing to issue warnings to those who fail to rectify the situation.
Under the department’s respite service schemes, elderly people or those with disabilities can sign up for residential or day care services subsidised by the government at care homes to alleviate the workload on carers. They have to undergo a basic health check before admission.
However, the Office of the Ombudsman found that 17 facilities required a meeting or home visit before accepting applications, and eight centres asked applicants to pay for extra medical examinations, such as X-rays, blood tests and urine tests.
“Such tests are unnecessary. We have demanded that care homes should not engage in such practices … Prior meetings and visits are not necessary to avoid adding burden on carers,” Ng told a radio show.
“If we receive similar reports or find issues during our supervision, we will first issue a reminder. If there is no improvement, we will issue a warning.”