Addressing the healthcare needs of Hong Kong’s growing elderly population

Creating the right healthcare facilities and services for the people of Hong Kong including the growing aging population, is becoming an increasingly important issue for the Hong Kong government.

The recent Budget address provided evidence that the government is taking steps to address this with the Financial Secretary John Tsang announcing that, over the next twelve months, recurrent expenditure on medical and health services will be almost HKD 50 billion.

Furthermore, significant capital will also be deployed to build new assets and to redevelop several hospitals to enable them to better meet the delivery needs of modern healthcare.

Creating the right type of assets to respond to specific needs

However, the issue that needs to be addressed goes beyond simply creating more facilities or modernizing existing assets. It is critical that whatever new hospitals are being constructed also take into consideration the changing healthcare requirements of the Hong Kong population, including the expanding elderly population.

This particular group of patients has specific needs which require changes to the way healthcare can be accessed, as well as a focus on treating some of the diseases which more typically occur as you get older.

An increasingly aging population will bring with it a change in the types of diseases that are more prevalent, for example there is likely to be an uplift in cardio-vascular illnesses, dementia and other age-linked conditions like diabetes and orthopedic and joint problems.

In his speech, Tsang cited projections that in twenty years, Hong Kong would have only two workers for every dependent elderly person, a massive shift from the 1980s, when the ratio was closer to 10 to one.

This change will have massive implications for both healthcare and the wider public sector, particularly as average life expectancy rates are due to rise over the coming years and the consequent expenditure can only grow further.

With a need to provide specific care for more elderly people, the solution lies not just in creating additional capacity but also in ensuring that the next generation of hospitals and senior care homes, have the right type of accommodation as well as staff with the right level of skills in place, to meet the particular demands of this special group of patients.

In addition to healthcare, it’s important the government considers how to provide the right type of housing. With many children having to move away for work, the development of homes that suit the elderly better and provide a safe environment to live in as well as a community where life can be enjoyed, is something that most countries across the world are investing in at the moment.

For Hong Kong to successfully deal with the healthcare needs of its population, it is key that the new facilities being built also operate as efficiently as possible. It is also critical for the staff who work in these facilities to have access to, and to be trained in using the sophisticated technology that are now an everyday tool in modern healthcare.

Development with long term view

One thing is certain – whatever hospitals are being built at the moment, will need to change in the future to meet the differing ways that healthcare will be delivered.

Therefore, it will be important to ensure that any money spent on improving a hospital is made with a long term view to ensure that the operational costs of the building are minimized and that flexibility can be built in throughout the life of the hospital building.