No ‘toothless tiger’: Hong Kong’s new primary care authority must cut red tape, get more nurses, says Sophia Chan
- Former health secretary says successful primary care will see fewer patients going to hospital
- Many elderly patients used to seeing doctors in hospitals will need to be persuaded to change
Hong Kong’s new primary care authority will avoid becoming a “toothless tiger” if it cuts red tape and empowers community nurses to do more for patients, former health chief Sophia Chan Siu-chee has said.
Now a professor of nursing at the University of Hong Kong, she said officials aiming to transform the city’s health landscape must also act to woo nurses and retain talent. Last year alone, 2,600 nurses quit the public sector.
“It can’t be a toothless tiger, primary care reforms are what the city has long awaited,” she told the Post, in her first media interview since leaving office earlier this year.
Stressing the need for more funding too, she said: “In the long term, primary care can improve public health and reduce the burden on hospitals. But sometimes, you must invest first before you can reap the rewards.”
During her tenure as secretary for food and health, Chan was an advocate for increasing primary healthcare in the community, focused on raising awareness about health issues, disease prevention and management, and supportive care that all help to reduce the burden on public hospitals.
Since 2019, district health centres and smaller “DHC expresses” have been set up in all 18 districts, offering a range of services from health assessments to promoting diet and exercise, help with managing chronic diseases and rehabilitation for stroke patients.
