New 'Smart Silver' Program to Enhance Digital Skills for 45,000 Elderly Participants Starting July

New round of activities under "Smart Silver" ICT Outreach Programme for Elders to promote digital inclusion

​To allow the elderly to experience digital life, the Digital Policy Office (DPO) announced today (June 26) that a new round of activities under the "Smart Silver" Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Programme for Elders (the Outreach Programme) will be launched gradually starting early July. Since its launch in 2014, the Outreach Programme has been well received by the elderly, with the number of participation exceeding 150 000. For the new round of the Outreach Programme, it is estimated that no fewer than 45 000 elderly people will participate in the programme, and at least 400 mobile digital service station activities will be held.

Through an open invitation, the DPO has earlier engaged three non-profit-making organisations (NPOs) - The Hong Kong Chinese Women's Club, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and Yan Chai Hospital Social Services Department - to implement the new round of the Outreach Programme. Under the programme, ICT outreach activities focusing on using smartphones, tablet computers and other ICT solutions to help improve elderly people's quality of daily living and connect them to society will be organised for elderly people receiving day care centre services, the hidden elderly, and elderly people in the community. The activities include teaching elderly people to use applications closely related to daily life and helping them improve their muscle strength and eye-hand co-ordination through digital technology products, such as augmented reality games, smart robots and reaction lights. These allow them to experience the benefits brought about by digital technologies.

The three NPOs will also organise mobile digital service station activities across the territory to proactively promote the series of activities under the "Smart Silver" digital inclusion programme for the elderly led by the DPO, introduce common mobile applications of public services to them, answer their questions on the use of smartphones and provide them with anti-fraud information and security tips. Relevant information about service hours and locations of mobile digital service stations has been uploaded to the Elderly IT Learning Portal (www.it2.gov.hk/tc/about/mobile_booth.php) (Chinese only) for reference.

"We are grateful for the support of the NPOs in the previous round of the Outreach Programme and for their contributions to the promotion of digital inclusion. The DPO hopes that members of the public will actively encourage the elderly around them to participate in the digital inclusion activities of the 'Smart Silver' programme and join hands with the Government to promote the use of digital technologies by the elderly, so as to build a digitally inclusive and caring society," a spokesman for the DPO said.

In order to allow members of society to enjoy the benefits of digital technology, the DPO promotes various digital inclusion measures under the "Smart Silver" programme to help those in need (especially the elderly) understand and use digital technology products and services. These measures include outreach programmes, mobile outreach service stations, regular and fixed-point training on digital technologies and technical support, enriched ICT training and a web-based learning portal, enabling them to use digital technologies effectively and safely and fully integrate into the digital society. Members of the public can visit the DPO website (www.digitalpolicy.gov.hk/en/our_work/digital_government/digital_inclusion/) to learn about the details of various activities under the "Smart Silver" Digital Inclusion Programme for Elders.

New round of activities under "Smart Silver" ICT Outreach Programme for Elders to promote digital inclusion Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

New round of activities under "Smart Silver" ICT Outreach Programme for Elders to promote digital inclusion Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

New round of activities under "Smart Silver" ICT Outreach Programme for Elders to promote digital inclusion Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Public hospitals experience smooth operations on second day of public healthcare fees and charges reform

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

On the second day (January 2) of the implementation of the Hospital Authority public healthcare fees and charges reform (fees and charges reform), public hospitals maintained smooth operation. The HA will continue to deploy additional manpower across various departments at hospitals to assist patients in need.

On the first day (January 1) of the fees and charges reform, 3 888 patients attended the Accident and Emergency departments (A&E) of 18 public hospitals, a decrease of about 25 per cent when comparing to New Year's Day last year. From midnight to 2pm yesterday (January 2), 2 329 patients attended all A&E, approximately 30 per cent fewer than the same time period of January 2 of last year. Among the patients seeking medical consultation, there were 34 critical cases and 82 emergency cases. According to the new fees and charges arrangement, these two categories of patients will have their A&E charges fully exempted. The other cases subject to the new fees and charges arrangement include 986 urgent cases, 1 171 semi-urgent cases, and 56 non-urgent cases. The average waiting times for semi-urgent and non-urgent cases was around 55 minutes, which is shorter compared to the average waiting time for the same period last year (approximately 147 minutes) for semi-urgent and non-urgent cases.

Additionally, the HA's 75 Family Medicine Clinics (FMCs) providing family medicine outpatient services also operated smoothly yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, approximately 10 000 patients attended these FMCs, with overall service usage remaining similar to that before the implementation of the measures.

The HA has deployed additional manpower to expedite the processing of patients' medical fee waivers applications. As of 2pm yesterday, public hospitals received approximately 3 300 applications in total for the day, with nearly 90per cent approved, amounting to about 2 900 applications. The remaining cases will be processed as soon as possible. Compared to the 14 000 individuals who were approved for medical fee waivers in 2023/24, the HA has approved approximately 35 000 applications since early November last year, benefiting citizens in need.

Furthermore, patients who had previously scheduled non-urgent radiology services or pathology services will be receiving payment notifications through mail or the HA mobile application HA Go starting from January 1. The HA reminds patients with recent appointments can arrange payment as early as practicable upon receiving the notification. For patients with distant appointment dates, payment can be arranged at their convenience after receiving the notification. Patients are not required to settle the payment immediately. Patients undergoing non-urgent radiology services must settle the payment at least 14 days before their appointment date, while patients requiring pathology services must settle the payment before testing. If patients have questions regarding payment items, they can inquire with healthcare staff during follow-up appointment, and specialist out-patient clinics will also have Integrated Patient Service Centres to provide detailed explanations about payment arrangements.

The HA reminds patients that the fees and charges reform has been implemented. Patients are advised to familiarise themselves with the new fees and charges arrangements before visiting public hospitals or outpatient clinics. Some medical service procedures have also been modified. Every cluster has set up hotlines (see table below) for patients to inquire about the fees and charges reform arrangements. Patients can also visit the HA website to learn about the new arrangements.

Hotlines for Public Healthcare Fees and Charges Reform

Clusters

Hotlines

Hong Kong East Cluster

6460 4303

Hong Kong West Cluster

2255 4177

Kowloon Central Cluster

3506 7198

Kowloon East Cluster

5215 7326

Kowloon West Cluster

3467 7575

New Territories East Cluster

6273 3551

New Territories West Cluster

2468 5353

Service hours: January 2-11, 2026, 8am to 8pm

Source: AI-found images