Antenatal Services Transition to Hospital Authority Begins July 6, Streamlining Maternal Care in Public Hospitals

Antenatal service of DH's Maternal and Child Health Centres to be integrated into Hospital Authority in phases

The Department of Health (DH) and the Hospital Authority (HA) announced today (July 3) that, starting from July 6, the antenatal service provided by the Maternal and Child Health Centres (MCHCs) under the DH will be integrated into the HA in phases. In other words, the HA will assume full responsibility for providing the antenatal service.

The Hospital Authority, Photo source: reference image

The Chief Executive's 2024 Policy Address proposed a comprehensive reform of the healthcare system, under which the Government will conduct a comprehensive review of the positioning and objectives of the healthcare system, and reform the functions and division of work among the HA, the DH and the Primary Healthcare Commission (PHCC). The DH will continue to perform its public health functions, and regulatory and enforcement roles. Meanwhile, clinical services will be gradually integrated into the HA or the PHCC according to the plan.

Currently, antenatal services in the public sector are jointly provided by the HA's obstetrics department and the DH's MCHCs through the antenatal shared-care programme. Under this programme, antenatal services for high-risk pregnant women are provided by the HA's obstetric department, while related services for women with low-risk pregnancies are jointly provided by the obstetrics department of hospitals under the HA and MCHCs.

The service integration will be implemented in two phases. The first phase will commence on July 6 this year and involves the integration of antenatal services from 15 MCHCs into nine public hospitals, namely Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital, Tsan Yuk Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, United Christian Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, North Lantau Hospital, Tseung Kwan O Hospital and Tuen Mun Hospital. The second phase will be implemented next year (2027) and will involve Prince of Wales Hospital and three MCHCs. The exact date and related arrangements will be announced in due course. The list of MCHCs and public hospitals involved in the two phases is set out in the annex.

The Department of Health, Photo source: reference image

After the service integration, the obstetrics department of the HA will provide one-stop antenatal services to all pregnant women planning to give birth in public hospitals. In the first phase, starting from July 6, 2026, all new case service, that is the first antenatal visit, will be provided by the HA's obstetrics department. Expectant mothers may schedule appointments through established procedures, such as submitting an application for a new case appointment with the obstetrics department via the "BookHA" feature(booking services for Specialist Out-patient Clinics) of the "HA Go" mobile application, or submitting an application in person.

Expectant mothers who have already booked antenatal services at an MCHC for July or later simply need to attend their next appointment at the originally scheduled MCHC at the appointed time. Staff at the MCHC will explain future service arrangements in detail, including specifics regarding subsequent antenatal service at public hospitals. The DH will collaborate closely with the HA to arrange and co-ordinate the appointment process, ensuring a seamless transition of services.

The integration is one of the measures to optimise service management and follow-up arrangements. The existing antenatal service,fee arrangements and target service groups will remain unchanged. Pregnant women will continue to receive regular antenatal check-ups, blood tests, screenings and vaccinations. They will also receive health education on pregnancy, breastfeeding, and infant and young child feeding.

Additionally, after the service integration, time slots previously allocated for antenatal services at the MCHCs will be reallocated to other maternal and child health services, including child health and postnatal services, to promote maternal and child health.

Pregnant women currently under the antenatal shared-care programme who have any enquiries regarding the arrangements for antenatal service may contact the MCHC or public hospital providing services to them, or visit the DH's website or the HA's website.

Photo source: reference image

CE commends teachers for teaching excellence

The following is issued on behalf of the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence Steering Committee:

The Chief Executive, Mr John Lee, today (July 3) officiated and presented the Award for Teaching Excellence to eight teachers, the Award for Budding Teachers to two teachers, and the Award for Education Innovation to one teacher at the Award Presentation Ceremony of the Chief Executive's Award for Teaching Excellence (CEATE) (2025/2026), while six teachers received the Certificate of Merit from the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Chairman of the CEATE Steering Committee, Mr Dieter Yih, commended the awarded teachers, who not only adopted a student-centred approach by employing diversified learning and teaching methods and strategies, creating real-life learning contexts to effectively cater for students' diverse learning needs and enhance their learning motivation and effectiveness, but also actively made good use of digital tools to deepen students' learning experiences, cultivate their higher-order thinking, and guide them to care for the community while broadening their global outlook. He further encouraged the awarded teachers to continue striving for excellence, promote a culture of pursuing excellence in schools, and work together to nurture students to become future pillars of society who possess both virtue and talent, with a sense of national identity and a global vision.

Approximately 200 nominations were received from secondary schools, primary schools, kindergartens and special schools for the CEATE (2025/2026). After assessment, two nominations (comprising eight teachers) were presented with the Award for Teaching Excellence, along with two nominations (comprising six teachers) presented with the Certificate of Merit, two nominations (comprising two teachers) presented with the Award for Budding Teachers, and one nomination (comprising one teacher) presented with the Award for Education Innovation. Please visit the CEATE website (www.ate.gov.hk) for the list of the awarded teachers.

Other officiating guests at today's ceremony included the Permanent Secretary for Education, Ms May Chan; the Chairperson of the Committee on Professional Development of Teachers and Principals, Professor Tam Kar-yan; the Chairman of the Education Commission, Dr David Wong; the Chairperson of the Curriculum Development Council, Professor Isabella Poon; the Chairman of the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, Professor Paul Lam; and the Chairman of the CEATE Assessment Working Group (2025/2026), Professor Lo Ming-tung.

Sharing activities involving the CEATE-awarded teachers are being rolled out gradually to disseminate excellent teaching practices. Details will be announced on the CEATE website and the Education Bureau's Training Calendar.

The CEATE (2026/2027) will cover three themes and two awards, namely "Arts Education Key Learning Area", "Technology Education Key Learning Area", "Special Educational Needs", the Award for Budding Teachers, and the Award for Education Innovation. Nominations will be accepted from July 6 to October 2. Relevant details will be available on the CEATE website from July 6.

Source: AI-found images

CE commends teachers for teaching excellence Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

CE commends teachers for teaching excellence Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

CE commends teachers for teaching excellence Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

CE commends teachers for teaching excellence Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images