Background

Residential Care Homes Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2023

The Government attaches great importance to the quality of residential care services and has been striving to enhance the service standards of residential care homes (RCHs) through a multi-pronged approach.  The Working Group on the Review of Ordinances and Codes of Practice for Residential Care Homes (the Working Group) was set up by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) in June 2017 for conducting a review on the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Ordinance, the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Ordinance, the Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) Regulation, the Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) Regulation, Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons) and Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Persons with Disabilities) with a view to exploring areas for improvement and feasible measures, and making concrete amendment proposals.

After reviewing the recommendations given by the Working Group, the Government introduced to the Legislative Council the Residential Care Homes Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2022 (the Bill) on 25 May 2022.  After deliberations and discussions in the nine meetings of the Bills Committee, the Bill was passed on the Third Reading on 7 June 2023.  Soon after, the Residential Care Homes Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Ordinance 2023 was gazetted on 16 June 2023 of which the requirements will be implemented in phases with most of them coming into effect from 16 June 2024.