144.      In the next financial year, the HA will launch new programmes for patients with severe mental illness and common mental disorders, involving an expenditure of over $100 million. Relevant measures include:

(1)

Piloting a case management programme in three districts to train healthcare workers as case managers to provide continuous and customised intensive support at the community level to persons with severe mental illness. The programme will be gradually extended to cover the whole territory. It is expected that the number of patients benefiting from the programme will increase from 5 000 in 2010-11 to 16 000 in 2012-13; and

 

(2)

Promoting collaboration between psychiatric specialist out-patient service and primary healthcare service to provide appropriate assessment and consultation services for patients with common mental disorders. This new measure is expected to benefit 7 000 patients in 2010-11, and the number of beneficiaries will increase to 10 000 each year from 2011-12 onwards.

 

145.      I will also provide additional recurrent funding of about $70 million to extend the service mode of the existing Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness in Tin Shui Wai to all 18 districts in Hong Kong. As for manpower, I will increase the recurrent funding by about $6 million to recruit 14 additional psychiatric medical social workers, thereby increasing their number to over 210 to enhance the psychiatric medical social service.