As a matter of fact, a comprehensive and co‑ordinated primary healthcare system will enhance overall public health, reduce hospital re‑admission and rectify the situation where accident and emergency service is regarded as the first point of contact in seeking medical consultation. The Government is determined to step up efforts to promote individual and community involvement, enhance co‑ordination among various medical and social sectors, and strengthen district‑level primary healthcare services. Through these measures, we aim to encourage the public to take precautionary measures against diseases, enhance their capability in self‑care and home care, and reduce the demand for hospitalisation.

We will set up a steering committee on primary healthcare development to comprehensively review the existing planning of primary healthcare services and draw up a development blueprint. The Committee, comprising healthcare professionals, academics, non‑governmental organisations and community partners, is tasked to advise on the Government’s strategy on the development of primary healthcare services. Its work will include drawing up a model for district‑based medical‑social collaboration, using big data to identify the areas of medical care services requiring in‑depth study, establishing a framework to implement measures on disease prevention in a more systematic manner (e.g. vaccination), disease screening and identification (especially chronic diseases such as stroke) and strengthening scientifically proven service provision and policy‑led development work.

To further illustrate the effectiveness of medical‑social collaboration, I have asked the Food and Health Bureau to set up a district health centre with a brand new operation mode in Kwai Tsing District within two years. The Government will provide funding for the centre according to the needs and characteristics of the district, with a view to enhancing public awareness of disease prevention and their capability in self‑management of health through public‑private partnership, providing support for the chronically ill as well as relieving the pressure on specialist and hospital services. The planned district health centre will make use of the local network to procure services from organisations and healthcare personnel serving the district so that the public can receive necessary care in the community. Kwai Tsing District Council made use of the $100 million provided by the Government in 2013 for district‑based signature projects to launch a number of healthcare services in collaboration with local associations and non‑profit‑making organisations, and has built a solid foundation for the further extension of district‑based primary healthcare services. With the experience gained from the pilot scheme, we will progressively set up district health centres in other districts.

To effectively change the current focus of our healthcare services on treatment and to alleviate the pressure on public hospitals, we are committed to enhancing district-based primary healthcare services. The Food and Health Bureau (FHB) is now setting up the first DHC in Kwai Tsing District as proposed in my Policy Address last year. Operating through district-based medical-social collaboration and public-private partnership, the DHC will provide services in health promotion, health assessment, chronic disease management, community rehabilitation, etc.

We envisage that the DHC will be a service hub with a Core Centre serving as the headquarters and complemented by five Satellite Centres in sub-districts at convenient locations. Enabled by information technology infrastructure, the DHC will form a service network manned by medical and healthcare practitioners in the district. The DHC will strive to better co-ordinate with other district-based primary healthcare services and facilities, making it more convenient to meet individual healthcare needs of the community. We have selected the site for the Core Centre of the Kwai Tsing DHC and invited tenders for the operating right, with a view to commissioning the DHC around the third quarter of 2019.

The Government will allocate substantial resources to subsidise the operation of the DHC at around $100 million a year. Members of the public will have to bear part of the costs of the services so as to encourage them to manage their own health. We will proactively take forward the setting up of DHCs in other districts, with the Kwai Tsing DHC as the blueprint. To ensure service stability, we will reserve premises for DHCs within Government properties in various districts, and have already identified suitable locations in Kwun Tong and the Eastern District. We will, however, first rent suitable premises for DHCs in various districts to enable early service delivery.

Hong Kong’s public healthcare system is under enormous pressure due to an ageing population and the increasing prevalence of chronic and complex diseases. Meanwhile, members of the public are mostly relying on treatment‑oriented healthcare services.

In a bid to shift the emphasis of the present healthcare system and people’s mindset from treatment‑oriented to prevention‑focused, I proposed in my last Policy Address to set up District Health Centres (DHCs) in all 18 districts to provide primary healthcare services through medical‑social collaboration and public‑private partnership. The aim is to enhance the public’s capability in self‑management of health and provide support for the chronically ill. The first DHC in Kwai Tsing District has commenced operation at the end of last month. We will expedite the setting up of DHCs in all 18 districts. It is expected that within the term of the current government, DHCs in six more districts and interim “DHC Express” in the remaining 11 districts will be established to provide health promotion, consultation and chronic disease care services.