Hong Kong urged to expand carer support scheme to cover other vulnerable groups
The first part of the government initiative began at 9am on Monday and will see the Hospital Authority send daily alerts to the Social Welfare Department if any carers among the 8,000 to 9,000 households listed in the database have been hospitalised.
The department would then check on the needs of the elderly or disabled person being cared for and offer them support, such as meal deliveries or respite services.
The scheme was set up after a series of tragedies related to the increasing burden placed on carers' shoulders, with most cases involving single older people living alone and elderly couples who took care of each other.
Social worker Crystal Yuen Shuk-yan cited concerns about possible time lags and questioned whether the alerts from the authority to the department would be prompt enough.
'If a carer was hospitalised during the day but authorities only receive an alert the next morning, wouldn't it be a long period of time where their dependents do not receive food or care?' she said on a radio programme on Monday.
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