The murder in Hollywood Plaza Diamond Head on Friday (2nd) was suspected of being a delusional schizophrenic patient, and the incident triggered some people's worries about random killing. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said that the Health Bureau and HA would review psychiatric treatment, rehabilitation services and processes for further improvement.

Looking through the data, the network schedule of psychiatric stable new diseases ranges from 55 to 95 weeks, that is, about one to one and a half years. Chen Youkai, a member of the Mental Health Advisory Committee and Chair Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, HKU, said that the situation was unacceptable because the time lag was too long, and it was easy for the condition to deteriorate. He believes that HA should strengthen public-private partnership schemes to divert patients to the private sector to reduce the burden of public healthcare.

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Lee Ka-chiu announced this afternoon (3rd) that the government will strengthen its work in four aspects, including requiring the police to strengthen urban patrols; The Health Bureau and HA will review psychiatric treatment, rehabilitation services and processes for further enhancement; The Health Bureau convenes a Mental Health Advisory Committee as soon as possible to discuss and provide advice on mental health issues in Hong Kong; SWD will also strengthen community support services through 24 Integrated Community Service Centres for Mental Health.

Stable new cases are expected to be seen by doctors for 55 to 95 weeks

As of 3 March, the network of stable new psychiatric cases of the HA in the past year has been scheduled from 31 to 55 weeks, and although it is the longest among all specialist clinics, it still takes about one to one and a half years before seeing a doctor. Chen Youkai believes that the relevant situation is unacceptable, because the time interval is too long, and it is easy to deteriorate.

You want a depressed person to wait a year for the world to be gray and gray, which is completely unacceptable. Chair Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, HKU School of Clinical Medicine

Chen also pointed out that even if he can see a doctor, but the doctor's consultation time is short, each patient may only see for a few minutes, but it will take a long time before he can be re-diagnosed, and it is difficult for doctors in disguise to see whether the patient's condition has deteriorated, "because psychiatry is good at understanding the patient's condition through dialogue and communication."

Psychiatrist turnover rate in Hong Kong reached 7.0%

In addition, according to HA figures, the loss of psychiatric staff has also been serious in recent years, with the turnover rate of psychiatrists reaching 2022.12% and nurses 31.7% as at 0 December 8. As at 5 December 2022, there were 12 psychiatrists, 31,385 nurses and 2 allied health professionals respectively, similar to those of previous years.

In comparison with the World Health Organization's standard ratio of 1:10,000 for psychiatrists, Hong Kong currently has a ratio of about 1:20,000, which is significantly behind the world's health standards. Meanwhile, the number of psychiatric patients receiving public medical treatment has increased significantly, from 15,16 in 228/000 to 293,000 this year.

Encourage HA to strengthen public-private partnership programmes to divert patients to the private sector

Chan believes that manpower is the core issue of social support for psychiatry, and the HA should have a plan to fill the relevant vacancies. He also pointed out that HA should also strengthen public-private partnership schemes to divert patients to the private sector with a view to reducing the burden of public healthcare.

One of the members of the Mental Health Advisory Committee and Chair Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, School of Clinical Medicine, HKU. (Profile picture)

Another member of the Mental Health Advisory Committee, Ms Yuen Suk-yin, Officer of Community Organisations Association, also pointed out that according to her understanding, HA has launched public-private partnership schemes for specialist outpatient clinics in recent years, and has also referred stable psychiatric patients to private medical treatment for treatment, but the scale is very small, and there is no timetable and plan to expand relevant projects, and it is necessary for the HA to set timetables and targets on related issues.

In addition, HKCSS launched Time To Heal earlier to support people who have been traumatized by social events and the epidemic. Asked whether the Government should set up similar schemes on a regular basis, Ms Yuen Suk-yin, an officer of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organisations, said that she believed that the relevant schemes would help members of the public to take a step towards psychological treatment and psychiatric medical assessment, and agreed that the Government could refer to them.

Yuen Suk-yin, Director of the Hong Kong Association of Community Organizations. (Profile photo/Photo by Gao Zhongming)

Both pointed out that in this incident, the Committee would review whether the patients involved could do better in any way during the treatment at the medical system or social level, reiterated that the relevant cases were isolated examples, and appealed to the public not to discriminate against the mentally ill because of this incident, which is not beneficial to the society but continues to worsen the problem. The Advisory Committee on Mental Health also issued a statement this afternoon calling on members of the public to stop disseminating videos and pictures related to the incident, continue to pay attention to their emotional conditions and those around them, and seek professional assistance when necessary.

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