A caregiver attends a senior citizen at a care home in Hong Kong. (EDMOND TANG / CHINA DAILY)
HONG KONG – A bill seeking to enhance the quality of residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) and residential care homes for persons with disabilities is currently under scrutiny at the Legislative Council, according to the secretary for labor and welfare.
Replying to question in the LegCo on Wednesday, Law Chi-kwong also said the Social Welfare Department is conducting an investigation into an incident of alleged improper behavior with an elderly person at a RCHE in the city.
The SWD “will certainly handle the matter seriously should there be any proven case of non‑compliance”, he added.
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The legislation amendment process was launched on the basis of recommendations of a working group set up by the SWD in 2017 in response to the public call for enhancing regulation and quality of residential care homes.
On completion of its review in May 2019, the working group put forward 19 recommendations, according to a government press release.
The SWD took forward some of the recommendations by revising the relevant codes of practice, which took effect on Jan 1, 2020, the labor and welfare chief.
To ensure the safety of the residents, RCHEs are advised to provide suitable security facilities by installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) system
Law Chi-kwong, Secretary for Labor and Welfare, HKSAR
The remaining recommendations involving staffing of RCHs, area of floor space per resident, accountability of the operators, registration systems for home managers and health workers, provision of care services, and penalties, needed to be implemented by amending the relevant legislation.
The government introduced the amendment bill into the LegCo for the first reading and second reading on May 25, said the secretary. “The LegCo has formed a Bills Committee on the aforementioned bill. We will fully collaborate with the LegCo in scrutinizing the bill.”
Responding to a question on monitoring, he said four professional teams of the Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly conduct surprise inspections to RCHEs at different times during office and non-office hours to monitor and regulate the operation, management and services of the RCHEs.
The SWD issues advisory letter, warning or written direction to a RCHE in case of issues of non‑compliance. If the RCHE continues to fail to make any improvement, the SWD will consider instigating prosecution actions, he added.
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To ensure the safety of the residents, RCHEs are advised to provide suitable security facilities by installation of closed-circuit television (CCTV) system, said the secretary.
Health workers must have completed a training course in order to apply to the SWD for registration as a health worker for the purposes of employment at a RCH.
In addition, the care home operators and managers should arrange continuous on-the-job training and supervision for staff, including nursing care training, stress management, infection control, and drug management, said Law.
"To enhance the management and service quality of the RCHEs, the SWD has implemented a five-year scheme since March 2019 to provide full subsidies for home managers, health workers and care workers of all RCHs to enroll in Qualifications Framework-based training courses.”