LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 1685 OFFICIAL RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Wednesday, 9 November 2011 The Council met at Eleven o'clock MEMBERS PRESENT: THE PRESIDENT THE HONOURABLE JASPER TSANG YOK-SING, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ALBERT HO CHUN-YAN IR DR THE HONOURABLE RAYMOND HO CHUNG-TAI, S.B.S., S.B.ST.J., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEE CHEUK-YAN DR THE HONOURABLE DAVID LI KWOK-PO, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE FRED LI WAH-MING, S.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE MARGARET NG THE HONOURABLE JAMES TO KUN-SUN THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG MAN-KWONG THE HONOURABLE CHAN KAM-LAM, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MRS SOPHIE LEUNG LAU YAU-FUN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LEUNG YIU-CHUNG DR THE HONOURABLE PHILIP WONG YU-HONG, G.B.S. THE HONOURABLE WONG YUNG-KAN, S.B.S., J.P. 1686 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 THE HONOURABLE LAU KONG-WAH, J.P. THE HONOURABLE LAU WONG-FAT, G.B.M., G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE MIRIAM LAU KIN-YEE, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE EMILY LAU WAI-HING, J.P. THE HONOURABLE ANDREW CHENG KAR-FOO THE HONOURABLE TIMOTHY FOK TSUN-TING, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE TAM YIU-CHUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ABRAHAM SHEK LAI-HIM, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE LI FUNG-YING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE TOMMY CHEUNG YU-YAN, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE FREDERICK FUNG KIN-KEE, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE AUDREY EU YUET-MEE, S.C., J.P. THE HONOURABLE VINCENT FANG KANG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-HING, M.H. THE HONOURABLE LEE WING-TAT DR THE HONOURABLE JOSEPH LEE KOK-LONG, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE JEFFREY LAM KIN-FUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE ANDREW LEUNG KWAN-YUEN, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG HOK-MING, G.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE WONG TING-KWONG, B.B.S., J.P. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 1687 THE HONOURABLE RONNY TONG KA-WAH, S.C. THE HONOURABLE CHIM PUI-CHUNG PROF THE HONOURABLE PATRICK LAU SAU-SHING, S.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE KAM NAI-WAI, M.H. THE HONOURABLE CYD HO SAU-LAN THE HONOURABLE STARRY LEE WAI-KING, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LAM TAI-FAI, B.B.S., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN HAK-KAN THE HONOURABLE PAUL CHAN MO-PO, M.H., J.P. THE HONOURABLE CHAN KIN-POR, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PRISCILLA LEUNG MEI-FUN, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE LEUNG KA-LAU THE HONOURABLE CHEUNG KWOK-CHE THE HONOURABLE WONG SING-CHI THE HONOURABLE WONG KWOK-KIN, B.B.S. THE HONOURABLE IP WAI-MING, M.H. THE HONOURABLE IP KWOK-HIM, G.B.S., J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE PAN PEY-CHYOU THE HONOURABLE PAUL TSE WAI-CHUN, J.P. DR THE HONOURABLE SAMSON TAM WAI-HO, J.P. 1688 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 THE HONOURABLE ALAN LEONG KAH-KIT, S.C. THE HONOURABLE LEUNG KWOK-HUNG THE HONOURABLE TANYA CHAN THE HONOURABLE ALBERT CHAN WAI-YIP THE HONOURABLE WONG YUK-MAN MEMBER ABSENT: THE HONOURABLE MRS REGINA IP LAU SUK-YEE, G.B.S., J.P. PUBLIC OFFICERS ATTENDING: THE HONOURABLE STEPHEN LAM SUI-LUNG, G.B.S., J.P. THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR ADMINISTRATION PROF THE HONOURABLE K C CHAN, S.B.S., J.P. THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, AND SECRETARY FOR FINANCIAL SERVICES AND THE TREASURY DR THE HONOURABLE YORK CHOW YAT-NGOK, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH THE HONOURABLE MATTHEW CHEUNG KIN-CHUNG, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR LABOUR AND WELFARE THE HONOURABLE MRS CARRIE LAM CHENG YUET-NGOR, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR DEVELOPMENT THE HONOURABLE EVA CHENG, G.B.S., J.P. SECRETARY FOR TRANSPORT AND HOUSING THE HONOURABLE GREGORY SO KAM-LEUNG, J.P. SECRETARY FOR COMMERCE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 1689 CLERKS IN ATTENDANCE: MS PAULINE NG MAN-WAH, SECRETARY GENERAL MISS ODELIA LEUNG HING-YEE, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL MRS PERCY MA, ASSISTANT SECRETARY GENERAL 1690 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 TABLING OF PAPERS The following papers were laid on the table under Rule 21(2) of the Rules of Procedure: Subsidiary Legislation/Instruments L.N. No. Child Abduction and Custody (Parties to Convention) (Amendment) Order 2011...................................... 151/2011 Clubs (Safety of Premises) (Exclusion) (Amendment) Order 2011 ............................................................. 152/2011 Other Papers No. 24 ─ Report by the Director of Immigration Incorporated on the administration of the Immigration Service Welfare Fund together with the Report of the Director of Audit and audited financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2011 No. 25 ─ Secretary for Home Affairs Incorporated Audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit for the year ended 31 March 2011 No. 26 ─ Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Signed and audited financial statements together with the Report of the Director of Audit and the Report of the Board of Trustees for the period 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2011 No. 27 ─ Consumer Council Annual Report 2010-2011 Report No. 2/11-12 of the House Committee on Consideration of Subsidiary Legislation and Other Instruments ORAL ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS PRESIDENT (in Cantonese): Questions. First question. LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 1691 Shortage of Beds and Rising Fees of Private Hospitals 1. MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): President, in recent years, a lot of pregnant women and patients from the Mainland have sought medical treatment in private hospitals in Hong Kong, and bed spaces in private hospitals are in serious shortage and their services are close to full capacity; some middle-class people are intent upon using private medical services by taking out medical insurance, but it turns out that they also have to wait for bed spaces. Twelve of the 13 local private hospitals have been established in the name of non-profit-making organizations, and among them, 10 are charitable institutions which are exempted from tax under section 88 of the Inland Revenue Ordinance (IRO), and some of them have recently increased their medical service charges substantially by as much as 1.6 times. At present, there is no provision or penalty under the conditions of land grant to private hospitals by the Government for regulating their operations or restricting them from making hefty profits, and the authorities expect that when there are new private hospitals coming into operation in 2017, the relevant provisions and penalties may be included in the conditions of land grant on a trial basis, and if proved feasible, they may consider amending the legislation to regulate the existing private hospitals as well. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (a) given that the annual profits for individual non-profit-making private hospitals are as high as $400 million and their fiscal reserves are up to a few billion dollars, how the authorities at present monitor the use of the funds of non-profit-making private hospitals (including whether their profits are used for the development of healthcare services, and whether they are inclined to invest their resources in services that can generate higher profits, thus compromising the quality and quantity of other services); furthermore, the Hospitals, Nursing Homes and Maternity Homes Registration Ordinance (the Ordinance) which regulates private hospitals in Hong Kong was enacted in 1936 and the last time when major amendments were being made was in 1966, and there is no provision in the Ordinance to regulate the fees and charges, profits as well as financial conditions of private hospitals; last year, the United States endorsed a health reform to strengthen monitoring of non-profit-making hospitals (including a compliance check once every three years) to ensure that their operation mode complies with the conditions for tax 1692 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ─ 9 November 2011 exemption status; whether the authorities have any plan to make reference to the practices in the United States to review the tax exemption status of the existing non-profit-making private hospitals, and levy profits tax and land premium based on their profitability; (b) apart from inspecting every year whether those private hospitals operating on low-premium land grant offer low-charge beds according to the requirements of the conditions of land grant, how the authorities ensure that these hospitals do not set any threshold for such bed spaces (such as rejecting patients who undergo major operations or are covered by medical insurance), and that such bed spaces are fully utilized; whether the authorities have any plan to impose regulation as soon as possible by way of legislation, so as to improve the low occupancy rate of as low as one quarter of such low-charge beds at present; and (c) given that a few private hospitals have initially planned to add about 250 bed spaces in 2013-2014, and the Government has allocated four sites for the development of private hospitals to provide more bed spaces (among which 70% will be reserved for Hong Kong residents), but the four new private hospitals are only expected to come into operation in 2017, in the six years from now until 2017, how the authorities ensure that Hong Kong residents in need of private hospital services may receive priority allocation of private hospital bed spaces; why the authorities do not immediately study regulating the existing private hospitals by introducing legislative amendments? SECRETARY FOR FOOD AND HEALTH (in Cantonese): President, private hospitals are an integral part of the healthcare system in Hong Kong.