Hong Kong proposes ‘enhanced measures’ to improve mental health support following mall stabbings
Hong Kong Free Press
The government has put forward a list of suggestions to enhance the city’s mental health support options after two women were killed in a brutal stabbing at a mall two weeks ago.
A member of the city’s advisory body on mental health, however, criticised the measures as being not new or “too vague.”
In response to the murders at Plaza Hollywood by a man said to have been diagnosed with schizophrenia, the government consulted the city’s Advisory Committee on Mental Health – an advisory body under the Health Bureau – on Friday.
During the meeting, the Hospital Authority (HA) said its existing mechanism offering treatment and support to mental health patients was “operating smoothly,” according to a press release. It added that there was “no sign of inadequacy in follow-up or oversight on symptoms due to resource or manpower constraints.”
The advisory body, however, said the enhancement of the community’s mental health involved not just healthcare, but required support from the social welfare and education sectors.
The chairperson of the committee and former justice secretary, Wong Yan-lung, also urged the public not to attribute tragic incidents simply to mental disorders.
“It will not help resolve the problem but aggravate the stigmatisation against persons with mental health needs, deterring those in need from seeking assistance,” Wong said.
‘Enhanced measures’
Following the meeting, the government said it had proposed a list of 10 “enhanced measures” to support people with mental health needs.
For patients in mental recovery with a history of severe mental disorders, the HA said it would aim to optimise the ratio of case managers to patients with severe mental illness to no higher than 1:40. Case managers could include psychiatric nurses, occupational therapists or social workers.
It also said it would explore expanding the use of psychiatric oral drugs or injections with fewer side effects; shorten the median waiting time for patients; and enhance communication between the HA and the Social Welfare Department (SWD).
For “other persons with mental health needs,” the government will pilot a mental health assessment programme for the public and set up a mental health support line. It said it would also “strengthen the support” for groups including low-income and ethnic minority families.
However, Chen, a member of the advisory body and a psychiatry professor at the University of Hong Kong, told HKFP that most of the measures were not new. Increasing the ratio of case managers to patients with severe mental illness and reducing median waiting time, for example, had been raised before.
According to a document submitted to the Legislative Council in 2020, the government proposed enhancing the ratio from 1:50 to 1:40.
In addition, while the government had suggesting shortening the median waiting time for urgent cases from two weeks to one weeks, and for semi-urgent cases from eight weeks to four weeks, the actual median waiting time for these two types of cases had already met those targets, Chen said.
According to the HA’s website, the median waiting time for urgent cases was around a week, and for semi-urgent cases it was three to four weeks, between last April to this April.
Chen said the root of the problem was the shortage of psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses, an issue that was not addressed in the government’s list of measures. He urged the government to consider bolstering cooperation between public hospitals and private psychiatric clinics to ensure sufficient manpower.
Libby Lee, the under secretary of the HA, said on a radio programme on Tuesday that the ratio of case managers to patients had reached 1:40 before, but that the figure rose as many medics had left the city’s public hospital system.
When asked about the number of psychiatrists falling about 300 short of the World Health Organization’s standard, which recommends 700 psychiatrists in Hong Kong, Lee said the HA would explore if further cooperation between public and private sector psychiatrists could be established. ‘
| If you are experiencing negative feelings, please call: The Samaritans 2896 0000 (24-hour, multilingual), Suicide Prevention Centre 2382 0000 or the Social Welfare Department 2343 2255. The Hong Kong Society of Counselling and Psychology provides a WhatsApp hotline in English and Chinese: 6218 1084. See also: HKFP’s comprehensive guide to mental health services in Hong Kong. |
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