Hospital Authority Launches Phase II of Community Health Training Project with National Health Commission and Chow Tai Fook Foundation.

Hospital Authority signs Memorandum of Understanding to support community healthcare development on Mainland

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

The Hospital Authority (HA) today (January 13) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the National Health Commission (NHC) and the Chow Tai Fook Medical Foundation Limited (Chow Tai Fook Medical Foundation) to launch Phase II of the New Horizon in Community Health (the Training Project) to dovetail the development of community and primary care policies and strengthen the training of more healthcare professionals on the Mainland.

The MOU signing ceremony was witnessed by the Minister of the NHC, Mr Lei Haichao, and the HA Chairman, Mr Henry Fan. The five-year MOU was jointly signed by the Acting Director-General of the Office of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the NHC, Mr Feng Yong; the Chairman of the Chow Tai Fook Medical Foundation, Mr Cheng Kar-Shing; and the HA Chief Executive, Dr Libby Lee.

Phase II of the TrainingProject will last for five years, with the goal of further training more primary healthcare staff on the Mainland, enhancing their clinical practice and primary healthcare management capabilities. The project will continue to adopt the management framework established in Phase I. The NHC will oversee the recruitment of trainees and provide overall co-ordination and guidance. The Foundation will provide approximately $10 million in funding support. The HA will be responsible for organising diverse trainings, including online and offline courses, site visits and mentorships in both places, and joint academic exchange conferences.

Mr Fan said, "The fruitful results of Phase I are very encouraging, and it is gratifying that we can continue with Phase II this year. The HA is honoured to continue participating in the Training Project, sharing Hong Kong's experience in family medicine training and faciliating professional exchanges between the two places to complement each other's strengths. The release of the Implementation Plan for Strengthening Primary Healthcare Services last year aims to further improve the primary healthcare system on the Mainland. The TrainingProject enables Hong Kong to contribute to the development of national public health."

Mr Cheng said, "The Foundation is dedicated to advancing medical education and talent development. We are delighted to partner with the NHC and the HA in launching Phase II of the TrainingProject. We aim to benefit more primary healthcare professionals, enhancing community healthcare services by continued resource inputs and professional exchanges. This will strengthen the national primary healthcare system and promote long-term collaboration between Hong Kong and the Mainland, creating a better future for community healthcare."

To dovetail with the national development of community and primary healthcare, the former Ministry of Health (now NHC), the HA and the Dr Cheng Yu Tung Foundation first signed an MOU in 2007 to collaborate on training healthcare professionals on the Mainland. Phase I of the TrainingProject was completed last year, successfully training over 1 500 primary healthcare professionals across 31 provinces, municipalities and regions on the Mainland. To continue the success of the project and after friendly consultation, the NHC, the Foundation and the HA will jointly launch Phase II of the project.

Hospital Authority signs Memorandum of Understanding to support community healthcare development on Mainland Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

HKSAR Government welcomes court's decision to dismiss Chow Hang Tung's application for judicial review on clothing policy for persons in custody

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government welcomes the judgment handed down by the Court of First Instance of the High Court today (January 13) to dismiss Chow Hang Tung's application for judicial review on the clothing policy for persons in custody (PICs).

The court judgment pointed out that the current clothing policy for PICs, including the requirement for female PICs to wear trousers in summer daytime, was formulated by the Correctional Services Department (CSD) as authorised by the Prison Rules. The Court was satisfied that the CSD had the expertise and experience in the relevant context, and that it had carefully considered various factors, taken into account of professional opinion when making the decision, as well as reviewed the policy continuously. The Court ruled that Chow Hang Tung had failed to demonstrate that the current policy constituted less favourable treatment of a particular gender. The Court pointed out that there was currently no factual evidence to support any assertion that there was widespread concern about the health effects of wearing trousers in summer. In addition, the rule was not absolute, but instead allowed individual PICs to apply for exceptional arrangements in special circumstances. At the same time, the Court also rejected Chow Hang Tung's assertion that she had requested to the CSD in July and August 2024 to wear shorts and had been refused.

A spokesman for the Security Bureau said, "The ruling of the Court of First Instance confirmed that the CSD's approach is reasonable, justified and lawful. According to Rule 26 of the Prison Rules, the CSD must provide every PIC with a uniform that meets a scale imposed by the Commissioner of Correctional Services. Over the years, the CSD had appointed task groups from time to time to review the clothing arrangements of PICs. These reviews gave ample consideration to numerous factors, including the type of correctional institutions, PICs' varying daily routines and activities involved, the need for thermal, physical and psychological comfort for PICs of different genders, privacy and decency of PICs and the security, good order and discipline of the prison, so as to continuously refine clothing arrangements according to the prevailing circumstances."

The spokesman stated, "Chow Hang Tung's assertion that she requested to wear shorts in summer and was rejected by the CSD is entirely inconsistent with the facts and was rejected by the Court. Besides, the current clothing policy for PICs already provides a degree of flexibility. For example, a PIC may make an application to wear other clothing on medical or non-medical grounds to the CSD, and the CSD would make appropriate arrangements having considered the actual circumstances and relevant factors."

The CSD will continue to impartially implement the relevant rules of the Prison Rules in accordance with the law and commit to providing a secure, safe, humane, decent and healthy custodial environment.

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