The Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health today (July 10) reported that the suspected case of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) pending results on July 8, upon preliminary testing, tested negative for MERS C… read more
The 2018 Annual Report of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) Complaints Committee was released today (July 10). The report gives a summary of the Committee’s work in 2018.
The Committee is tasked with the responsibility of monitoring the handling of non-criminal complaints against the ICAC and its officers. The Committee takes an independent view on the ICAC’s investigation findings on the complaints received, reviews the ICAC’s procedures which may lead to complaints, and makes recommendations for improvement.
In 2018, the Committee received 11 complaints involving 22 allegations against the ICAC or its officers. An additional allegation was registered in 2018 in respect of a complaint received in 2017. Among these 23 allegations registered in 2018, 30 per cent were related to misconduct, 57 per cent to neglect of duty and four per cent to abuse of power by ICAC officers. The remaining nine per cent were related to inadequacies of ICAC procedures.
The ICAC submits investigation reports to the Committee after conducting full investigation into complaint cases, while assessment reports are submitted for complaints which do not warrant full investigation. During 2018, the Committee held three meetings to consider the investigation reports of 17 complaint cases received in 2017 or 2018. These complaints contained a total of 88 allegations. Five allegations in four of these complaints were found to be substantiated or partially substantiated concerning a total of five ICAC officers, leading to two of them receiving a verbal warning and three being given advice by their senior officers. In the year, the Committee also considered and endorsed nine assessment reports. Preliminary assessment showed that there were no grounds or justifications in these complaints that would warrant formal investigation, and the Committee agreed that no further investigative actions should be taken.
In the course of considering the complaints, both the Committee and the ICAC scrutinised the internal procedures, guidelines and practices of the ICAC. After careful examination of the issues identified in the investigation reports considered during 2018, the ICAC organised a number of internal briefing sessions and strengthened the training programmes for frontline officers to enhance their vigilance, technique and knowledge in answering public enquiries, dealing with requests from complainants and suspects, and handling of items seized during search operations. Commencing in 2018, additional modules focusing on emotion management and effective interpersonal communication skills have also been included in the induction/preparatory courses for new recruits and officers who newly take up duties in the ICAC Report Centre.
The annual report of the Committee is available on the Administration Wing website (www.admwing.gov.hk/eng/links/icac.htm) and also at the ICAC’s regional offices. read more
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 10) that the Environme… read more
The following is issued on behalf of the Office of The Ombudsman:
The Ombudsman, Ms Winnie Chiu, today (July 10) announced a direct investigation to examine the Government’s work in monitoring and promoting the utilisation of low-charge hospital beds in private hospitals and identify areas for improvement, if any.
Two private hospitals in Hong Kong are required to comply with the land grant conditions and provide no less than 20 per cent of their total beds as low-charge hospital beds. At present, the two hospitals provide a total of 164 low-charge beds. The Department of Health (DH) monitors the provision of low-charge beds by these two private hospitals to ensure their compliance with the relevant land grant conditions.
The relevant requirements stipulate that the daily hospital charges (including fees for the hospital bed, meals and nursing services) for a low-charge bed shall not exceed the maximum fee charged for a third-class bed in public hospitals, which is currently $120 per day, while other hospital charges (such as fees for the operating theatre, laboratory tests, X-ray examinations and medication) shall not exceed half the fees for same services charged for a second-class bed in the private hospital concerned. The preliminary inquiry by the Office of The Ombudsman found that although the two private hospitals do provide low-charge beds as stipulated in the land grant conditions, there is still room for improvement in the utilisation rates of those beds.
Meanwhile, the Hospital Authority (HA) has signed agreements separately with the two aforementioned private hospitals allowing the HA to refer suitable public hospital patients to the two hospitals to use their low-charge beds during influenza surges. Patients referred only need to pay a fee equivalent to the basic hospital charges of public hospitals and the other fees would be borne by the HA. During the 2017 summer surge and the 2017-18 winter surge of influenza, the HA activated the referral agreements. However, only 35 and 25 patients were referred respectively by public hospitals. The small number of patients referred indicated that the existing referral mechanism failed to improve the utilisation rate of low-charge beds, and could hardly alleviate the strong demand for hospital beds in public hospitals.
In this light, The Ombudsman decided to initiate a direct investigation against the Food and Health Bureau, the DH and the HA. Ms Chiu said, “The demand for hospital beds in public hospitals is huge. Proper utilisation of low-charge beds in private hospitals should help ease the burden on the public healthcare system. Our direct investigation aims to examine and explore how the Government can further enhance the utilisation of low-charge beds in private hospitals.”
The Ombudsman now invites members of the public to give their views on the above topic in writing to the Office of The Ombudsman by August 11, 2019:
Address: 30/F, China Merchants Tower, Shun Tak Centre
168-200 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong
Fax: 2882 8149
Email: complaints@ombudsman.hk read more
Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible: Here is an item of interest to swimmers. The Leisure and Cultural Services Department announced today (July 10) that due to b… read more