Hong Kong’s government is proposing a two-way referral system that would allow patients to move between family doctors and specialists, giving primary-care doctors a broader role in managing their overall health.
Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau said family doctors should take patients’ overall health into account rather than treat them only according to disease category. Under the proposed system, patients found to have high blood pressure, high blood sugar or high blood lipid levels could receive fast-track specialist advice if serious problems were found, helping family doctors support their care.
The policy address also sets a target of halving waiting times within five years for stable new patients at designated specialist outpatient services, including psychiatry. The target would be difficult, but he was confident it could be achieved.
Lo said mental-health support would extend beyond medical treatment. Family doctors could handle simple emotional problems, while community health centres could provide additional support and public education could help address difficulties linked to family, work, school or relationships. He said stronger co-operation between departments would also be needed.
Lo reported that community health-centre membership had increased by about 40% over the past year and exceeded 600,000. The chronic-disease co-care programme had reached 260,000 participants in less than three years, above its original target of 200,000.
The five-year plan calls for community health-centre construction to be completed in all 18 districts and for cumulative membership to reach one million.