Number of elderly dying in Hong Kong while awaiting care home places soars
Auditor finds government plays down numbers waiting for care places
The number of elderly people who die while waiting for places in care homes has shot up in the past four years, the Audit Commission has revealed in a damning report.
It recommended a review of the assessment system and urged the government to provide more subsidised places to meet rising demand.
In addition to the increasing mortality rate, the report showed that the Social Welfare Department had been watering down its statistics to downplay the severity of the space shortage.
The department reported in August that 30,690 people were on the waiting list and estimated the average waiting time at three years. But that number did not include 6,800 who had been assessed as needing a place in a care home but were either receiving community care services or were on a "dual track", meaning they could wait for a place at a care home or remain in the community.
Those 6,800 "represent a hidden, but not negligible demand, which should have been disclosed when reporting the waiting list and suitably taken into account in service planning", the audit report said.
In addition to the official underreporting of the number of people waiting for care home space, the audit found that only a fraction of the assessors who evaluate elderly people's needs and match them with services did the bulk of the work. Just 36 of the 2,700 people accredited as assessors did 70 per cent of all the work carried out from June last year to June this year.
Of the 2,700 accredited assessors, only 1,800 of them were classified as "active" - and only 47 per cent of the active ones actually conducted an assessment over the past year.
"This extremely uneven output may affect the quality and efficiency of the assessments," the report said. An assessment is only valid for 12 months.
The government spent more than HK$4.38 billion in the past year on elderly homes and elderly community care services. But the number of care home spaces only increased by 20 per cent in the past 14 years.
Many elderly people refused to go into private care homes or government-bought spaces in private homes because of quality control issues.
The report recommended a review of the government's assessment system and full disclosure of the assessment methodology. It said the government should continue "striving to expand the subsidised [community care services and residential care services] to meet the rising demand, shorten the waiting lists and reduce the waiting times."
The report also recommended a review into the low participation rate in a pilot programme for elderly health assessment. Only 2,000 people are enrolled in the scheme, which can accommodate 10,000.
The Social Welfare Department and the Hospital Authority said they agreed with the Director of Audit's recommendations.
