Secretary for Food & Health Prof Sophia Chan today officiated at the opening ceremony of the Tai Po District Health Centre (DHC) Express.

Operated by the United Christian Medical Service, the Tai Po DHC Express consists of a core centre, six fixed service points and a number of service points in village offices.

At the opening ceremony, Prof Chan said multiple measures have to be put forward in order to meet surging healthcare needs amid a rapidly ageing population and an increasing prevalence of chronic diseases.

“As the vital parts of the primary healthcare system, the DHCs and DHC Expresses will provide the public with various government-subsidised primary healthcare services through our multi-disciplinary teams with a view to shifting the emphasis of the present healthcare system and the public mindset from treatment-oriented to prevention-focused.

“I am delighted to know that the Tai Po DHC Express bonds with the primary healthcare service providers within or in adjacent districts, including doctors and Chinese medicine practitioners, to form a community-based network.”

The DHC Express also provides assessment and preventive training and care programmes on mild cognitive impairment as well as fall-prevention training to elderly people, so that the local community can receive timely care, she added.

Moreover, in a bid to prevent unnecessary readmission, the DHC Express collaborates with the Hospital Authority’s New Territories East Cluster, especially Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital and Tai Po Hospital, to organise activities and arrange necessary primary healthcare services for discharged patients.

Prof Chan noted that apart from serving at the core centre and the six fixed service points, the Tai Po DHC Express works with the Tai Po Rural Committee to set up service points in its village offices as a facilitative measure for citizens living in the villages and relatively remote areas.

These service points will offer one-stop primary healthcare services including health promotion, nurse counselling, health risk factors assessment, health management classes and chronic disease management.

Since the Tai Po DHC Express’ soft launch in mid-October, it has recruited over 550 members and completed health risk factor assessments for over half of them by the end of November.

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