Chief Executive John Lee today announced that the Government will revamp Hong Kong's healthcare system to focus on prevention and early treatment by investing additional resources to promote primary healthcare.

In his Policy Address, Mr Lee pointed out that the existing healthcare system relies more on treatment than prevention, under which expenditure on public hospital services accounts for over 80%, while less than 20% is spent on primary healthcare.

Not only are resources skewed heavily towards public hospitals, the pressure exerted on them is also huge, he noted.

With an ageing population and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, public hospitals are overburdened and the waiting time for specialist services has continued to lengthen. Coupled with the impact of the COVID‑19 epidemic, the dire consequences of over‑reliance on public hospitals over the years have become more evident.

In view of a need to change the healthcare system, the Government will work on a revamp to shift the emphasis of the system from the current treatment‑oriented, hospital‑based structure to a prevention‑focused, community‑based mode.

To achieve this goal, the Government will publish the Primary Healthcare Blueprint within this year, with district health centres (DHCs) to be used as the hub for co‑ordinating primary healthcare services for citizens. It will partner with the private healthcare sector to promote the concept of "family doctor for all" and collaborate with various healthcare professions to provide comprehensive, sustainable and people‑centric primary healthcare services in the community.

Moreover, the Primary Healthcare Authority will be established to co‑ordinate and govern the provision of a primary healthcare service across the public and private sectors. It will also be responsible for setting standards and devising quality assurance mechanisms.

Mr Lee also unveiled details of the three‑year Chronic Disease Co‑Care Pilot Scheme.

From next year, the DHCs will refer people who are screened to be at high risk of hypertension or diabetes mellitus to the private sector for further examination. Those who are diagnosed with the diseases will receive treatment provided by family doctors and allied health professional teams, with about half of the examination and treatment fees subsidised by the Government.

For the Elderly Health Care Voucher Scheme, the Government will allow the shared use of vouchers between spouses and extend the scheme's coverage to include primary healthcare services provided by accredited audiologists, dietitians, clinical psychologists and speech therapists, as well as medical equipment upon professional assessment.

In addition, a three‑year pilot scheme will be rolled out to encourage the elderly to use primary healthcare services more effectively by increasing the annual voucher from the existing $2,000 to $2,500.

The extra $500 will be allotted automatically to the seniors’ accounts after they claim at least $1,000 from the voucher for designated primary healthcare services such as disease prevention and health management. The additional amount should also be used for those designated services.

To further promote the development of Chinese Medicine (CM), the Government will enhance the functions of the Chinese Medicine Unit under the Health Bureau with the creation of the post of Commissioner for Chinese Medicine Development to strengthen development and relevant policy co‑ordination work, including the formulation of a CM development blueprint.

It will also increase the annual quota of government‑subsidised CM outpatient services from 600,000 to 800,000 and strengthen the CM services of DHCs.

Noting that public hospital services are the backbone of the city's healthcare system, the Chief Executive said the Government will enhance the services on various fronts, including making wider use of telehealth services for patients and introducing a new service model for drug collection and delivery.

The Hospital Authority will adopt a multipronged approach to shorten the waiting time for specialist outpatient services, aiming to reduce the waiting time of stable new case bookings for the specialty of medicine by 20% in the 2023‑24 financial year.

On hospital infrastructure, the Government will press ahead with the First Ten‑year Hospital Development Plan (HDP), adding about 4,600 beds and 80 operating theatres in the next five years. The Second Ten‑year HDP will include the development of a hospital network in the Northern Metropolis.

With the objective of ensuring sufficient healthcare manpower for the public healthcare system, Mr Lee noted that the Government will look into different options, such as requiring qualified healthcare professionals to serve in public healthcare institutions for a specified period of time and admitting qualified non‑locally trained dentists and nurses.

Regarding medical co‑operation between Hong Kong and the Mainland, the Government will make reference to the registration approvals made by the National Medical Products Administration and other suitable drug regulatory authorities so as to allow pharmaceutical products registered in the Mainland and relevant places to be registered and sold in Hong Kong upon fulfilment of stringent requirements on safety, efficacy and quality, thereby diversifying the supply of such products.

The Government will also maintain liaison with the Mainland on enabling more Hong Kong‑registered drugs and medical devices to be used in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Furthermore, it will study the feasibility of allowing Hong Kong people living in the Mainland cities of the bay area to make use of the Elderly Health Care Vouchers for settling payments of Mainland medical insurance premiums.