Gov’t watchdog finds lack of subsidised day care centre spots for Hong Kong elderly in some districts
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s elderly day care centres which provide subsidised services under a government scheme are unable to meet demand in some districts, the city’s public watchdog has found.
Announcing the findings of its latest investigation, the Office of the Ombudsman said on Thursday there were not enough spots at some day care centres operating as part of the Community Care Service Voucher for the Elderly pilot scheme.
Demand exceeded supply in Eastern District, Southern District, Wong Tai Sin District, Sha Tin District, Islands District and Yuen Long District, the government watchdog said.
Authorities launched the pilot scheme run by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in September 2013, amid the city’s ageing population. Eligible senior citizens can receive day care and home care services by recognised providers at a subsidised rate.
The subsidy amount is based on household income, with the government paying up to 40 per cent.
The SWD should invite more organisations to offer services in districts with strong demand, the Ombudsman said.
Last year, Chief Executive John Lee announced in his maiden policy address that the programme, which is still in its pilot stage, would be regularised in the third quarter of this year, allowing more elderly to benefit.
The Ombudsman also found that while the SWD required service providers to update vacancies on a government website, a random check of 10 providers showed that half of them were last updated three months to more than two years ago. The SWD explained to the watchdog that the long delay in updates was due to Covid-19, during which vacancies remained unchanged for a long period.
In response, the Ombudsman said service providers should still deliver updates even if there were no changes, and the SWD should modify its website to allow people to check real-time vacancies. That way, voucher holders or carers would not need to call individual providers to ask.
Apart from day care, the elderly can also receive home-based services under the scheme such as meal delivery, rehabilitation and speech therapy. The Ombudsman said the capacity of home-based services could “abundantly accommodate the needs of voucher users and those on the waiting list.”
The SWD said it would actively follow up on the report’s recommendations, and it hoped that new measures introduced after regularisation would attract more eligible elderly people.
Population ageing
The government’s mid-year population statistics and population projections have shown that the city can expect an increasingly aged population.
With post-war baby boomers entering old age and the rising life expectancy at birth for both sexes, the number of elderly persons aged 65 and over was projected to nearly double over a 25-year period, the Census and Statistics Department said in a press release.
More than one in three residents would be aged 65 or above by 2046, compared to one in five now, the department added.
The government said in March that it was committed to creating a “healthy ageing environment” for the growing elderly population. The city’s estimated recurrent spending on senior citizens was HK$123.1 billion from 2023 to 2024, up from HK$71 billion from 2017 to 2018, labour secretary Chris Sun added.
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