Primary Healthcare Commission to enhance medical laboratory services for CDCC from tomorrow
The Primary Healthcare Commission (PHC Commission) announced today (November 5) that the Chronic Disease Co-Care Pilot Scheme (CDCC Pilot Scheme) will be enhanced starting tomorrow (November 6) to offer participants with more convenient and flexible medical laboratory service arrangements in the community.
The Government launched the CDCC Pilot Scheme in November 2023 to enable Hong Kong residents aged 45 or above with no known medical history of diabetes mellitus or hypertension to receive screening for related chronic diseases through medical laboratory services in the private sector. To continuously enhance the medical laboratory services for the CDCC Pilot Scheme, participants may opt to receive blood taking, return specimens and receive other laboratory services at any service point of participating medical laboratories by presenting the laboratory service request note issued by their participating family doctors from November 6 onwards, and they will no longer be confined to going to the service points of the single designated medical laboratory as in the past. The number of service points for medical laboratories will also increase from 24 to 63, while the laboratory service co-payment fees for participants will remain unchanged. All medical laboratories participating in the CDCC Pilot Scheme have been accredited under the eHealth+ Connectivity Accreditation Scheme, and citizens' laboratory reports will be deposited into their personal eHealth account for access by citizens as well as their authorised healthcare personnel and caregivers.
Apart from receiving services at service points of participating medical laboratories, CDCC Pilot Scheme participants can also make appointments at the District Health Centres/Expresses in all 18 districts in Hong Kong to receive blood taking or return specimens. To offer more convenience for participants, individual family doctors also provide the value-added service option of blood taking and specimen collection directly to participants at their clinics. If participants opt for this service, their family doctors may charge them an additional fee on top of the laboratory service co-payment fees.
The aforementioned enhancement measures will also apply to the General Outpatient Clinic Public-Private Partnership Programme (GOPC PPP) under the Hospital Authority. (Note) Participants in the CDCC Pilot Scheme and the GOPC PPP may scan the QR code on the laboratory service referral note, refer to the following websites of the Scheme/Programme, or call relevant hotlines for information on the applicable service points of designated laboratory service providers, opening hours, and co-payment details:
CDCC Pilot Scheme
Website: www.primaryhealthcare.gov.hk/cdcc/en
Hotline: 2157 0500 (answered by dedicated staff from 9am to 9pm, Mondays to Saturdays)
GOPC PPP
Website: www.ha.org.hk/ppp/gopcppp
Hotline: 2300 7300 (answered by dedicated staff from 9am to 9pm, Mondays to Saturdays)
The PHC commission will continue to deepen the development of the CDCC Pilot Scheme to cover more target diseases and health conditions, as well as to develop related support services, including nursing, allied health, pharmacy, laboratory, pharmaceutical, and radiological diagnostics.
Note: The GOPC PPP is expected to end in 2028; patients participating in the Programme will be invited to join the CDCC Pilot Scheme in a progressive manner to receive continued and comprehensive care from family doctors in the community.
Source: AI-found images
Re-launch of Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works in New Territories Exempted Houses
Following the direction of earlier proposals, the Buildings Department (BD) announced today (April 1) the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme for Unauthorised Building Works (UBWs) in New Territories Exempted Houses (NTEHs). The reporting period will last for one year from April 1, 2026 to March 31, 2027.
"In view of the history and unique circumstances of the NTEHs (commonly known as village houses), the Government launched a one-off administrative reporting scheme in 2012 as a special arrangement. Under the scheme, owners could report to the BD about UBWs that were erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law. The reporting period ended in December 2012. The Development Bureau (DEVB) put forward proposals to amend the Buildings Ordinance in December 2024, which included rationalising the policy for handling UBWs. The DEVB also pointed out that in response to the views of villagers and Legislative Council members that the reporting period was too short, the Government prepared to re-launch the Reporting Scheme to allow owners who at that time did not report their UBWs to do so," a spokesman for the BD said.
Relevant stakeholders and Legislative Council members generally considered the above proposals practical and feasible, and they welcomed the proposals. The DEVB and the BD have also consulted Heung Yee Kuk on the relevant implementation arrangements.
The re-launched Reporting Scheme will maintain the original criteria, including:
(1) The types of UBWs that can be reported and their erection dates are the same as the original Reporting Scheme, meaning that only UBWs erected before June 28, 2011, posed lower risks or constituted less serious contravention of the law and were not the First Round Targets (Note) are eligible. Examples include signboards projecting from the external walls of village houses; enclosed rooftop structures with a coverage of not more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area of the main building.
(2) Same as the original Reporting Scheme, owners are required to conduct safety inspections on the reported UBWs every five years.
"The BD will not require the immediate removal of the reported UBWs unless their structures become obviously dangerous. Regarding UBWs in village houses, the BD is prioritising the handling of First Round Targets. If any relevant UBWs remain not reported after the application deadline of March 31, 2027, the BD will, after dealing with the First Round Targets, take priority enforcement action against the non-reported UBWs. The BD will formulate enforcement strategy for the reported UBWs at a later stage in accordance with the risks and the actual situation," the spokesman added.
To enhance the efficiency of processing applications, reports must be submitted via the electronic platform on the BD's website by technically competent persons or registered professional engineers appointed by owners. In accordance with the user-pays principle, an administrative fee of $600 is payable for each application. Upon successful reports, owners must also pay the relevant administrative fee when conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years.
Details of the re-launched Reporting Scheme are available on the BD's website at https://www.bd.gov.hk/en/safety-inspection/ubw/UBW-in-new-territories-exempted-houses/index_relaunch_reporting_scheme.html; Villagers who wish to report can call 2626 1616 for enquiry. The BD will also use different channels such as distributing leaflets and posters to Rural Committees to enable villagers to know more about the re-launch of the Reporting Scheme.
Owners who had successfully participated in the Reporting Scheme in 2012 are not required to submit reports again. However, they must continue to comply with the requirements of the original Reporting Scheme, including conducting safety inspections of the reported UBWs every five years, submitting safety certificates and paying administrative fees to the BD.
Note: The First Round Targets refer to UBWs with higher potential risks and more serious nature, such as village houses of four storeys or more, and enclosed rooftop structures covering more than 50 per cent of the roofed-over area.
Source: AI-found images
