Medical Social Services
OBJECTIVES
9.1
Medical Social Services aim to provide timely psycho-social intervention and/or tangible assistance to patients and their families to help them cope with or solve problems arising from illness, trauma or disability. As a member of the clinical team, Medical Social Workers (MSWs) play an important role in linking up the medical and social services to facilitate patients’ recovery and rehabilitation in the community.
SERVICE PROVISION
9.2
The Medical Social Services Units (MSSUs) managed by SWD can be broadly classified into general and psychiatric settings. MSWs in the general setting are stationed at public hospitals and some specialist out-patient clinics of the Hospital Authority (HA), and at the Child Assessment Centres and Integrated Treatment Centre of the Department of Health, while those in the psychiatric setting are stationed at psychiatric hospitals and out-patient clinics of HA.
9.3
As at 31 March 2013, SWD had an establishment of 431 MSWs, with an increase of 31 MSWs in 2011-12 to dovetail with the service enhancements of the HA. In general, MSWs provide counselling and/or tangible services, such as financial assistance, to needy patients and their families, and collaborate closely with medical and allied health professionals through case conferences, meetings, ward rounds and social reports, etc. in formulating and implementing treatment/discharge/rehabilitation plans for patients. In 2012-13, the MSWs served around 173 000 cases.
9.4
MSWs also work closely with medical and allied health professionals to meet the needs of the community through early identification and intervention services. They take up a key role in the following community-based services:
- Psycho-geriatric Teams
- Community Geriatric Assessment Teams
- Community Psychiatric Teams
- Early Assessment Service for Young People with Psychosis
- Elderly Suicide Prevention Programme
- Extended-care Patients Intensive Treatment, Early Diversion and Rehabilitation Stepping-stone
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE PERIOD
Implementation of Community Care Fund Medical Assistance Programmes
9.5
Two Community Care Fund (CCF) Medical Assistance Programmes administered by HA were implemented in 2011 and 2012 respectively with MSWs’ assistance in processing the applications for financial assistance. The First Phase Programme, effective from 1 August 2011, provides financial assistance to patients of HA to purchase specified self-financed (SFI) cancer drugs which have not yet been brought into the Samaritan Fund (SF) safety net but have been rapidly accumulating medical scientific evidence and with relatively higher efficacy. The Second Phase Programme, rolled out on 16 January 2012 and regularised under SF in September 2012, provides subsidy to needy patients who marginally fall outside the SF safety net for the use of specified SFI drugs, and additional subsidy to HA patients by reducing their maximum contribution ratio to use the specified SFI drugs supported by the SF and the CCF First Phase Programme.
Implementation of Relaxation of Financial Assessment Criteria for Samaritan Fund Drug Application
9.6
With effect from 1 September 2012, the financial assessment criteria for SF drug subsidies adopted in MSWs’ processing of applications have been relaxed. A deductible allowance is introduced for calculating patients’ disposable capital and the tiers of patients’ contribution ratio are simplified. The new measure, applicable to drug applications of both SF and the CCF First Phase Programme, benefits more patients and helps protect the patients’ financial resources from being depleted for drug expenses.
