LCQ12: Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services
18.1.2023

Following is a question by the Hon Stanley Li and a written reply by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, in the Legislative Council today (January 18): Question: In July 2021, the Social Welfare Department implemented the updated Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services (SCNAMES) to better identify and assess the needs of the elderly for various types of long term care (LTC) services, and to enhance the matching work for such services. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council: (1) of the following information on SCNAMES since it was updated in July 2021: (i) the additional number of applicants for LTC services; (ii) the additional number of persons eligible to be wait-listed for community care services; (iii) the additional number of persons eligible to be wait-listed for integrated home care services (frail cases); (iv) the number of persons who withdrew while they were wait-listed for LTC services and the reasons for that; (v) the number of applications for residential care services the status of which has changed from "inactive" to "active"; (vi) the number of cases which have been reassessed and the reasons for that; and (vii) the number of appeal/pre-appeal mediation cases, the reasons for that and the appeal results; (2) whether the authorities will review regularly the effectiveness of SCNAMES, so as to ensure that it effectively responds to the demand of the elderly for LTC services; if so, of the details and timetable; if not, the reasons for that; and (3) as there are views pointing out that some elderly people have inadequate understanding of the updated SCNAMES and the scoring criteria, whether the authorities will step up publicity and explain SCNAMES to the elderly; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that? Reply: President, (1) The Social Welfare Department (SWD) launched the updated Standardised Care Need Assessment Mechanism for Elderly Services (SCNAMES) in July 2021. The new SCNAMES differentiates more effectively the needs of elderly persons for community care services and residential care services. Accredited assessors adopt the internationally recognised "interRAI-Home Care" assessment tool to comprehensively assess the long term care needs of elderly persons, taking into account the impairment level in functional performance of daily activities and cognitive impairment of an elderly person, risks of the living environment and the carer's condition, etc. From the implementation of the new SCNAMES to November 2022: (i) There were 35 729 applications for subsidised long term care services; (ii) and (iii) There were 15 989 applications for subsidised community care services (i.e. "centred-based" day care services (Note 1) or "home-based" home care services (Note 2)); (iv) Among the 35 729 applications for subsidised long term care services, 3 646 cases withdrew their applications. The SWD does not have information on the reasons for the withdrawals; (v) 11 229 applications for subsidised residential care services changed from "inactive cases" to "active cases"; (vi) Re-assessment was conducted for 16 301 cases, e.g. elderly persons who had a change in health conditions while on waitlist, and pre-appeal mediation cases; and (vii) Since the implementation of the new SCNAMES, the SWD had not received any appeal case. Regarding the 61 cases of pre-appeal mediation, the mediation results were as follows: Mediation results Number of cases Settled 50 Not settled 0 Withdrawn 7 Mediation in process 4 Total 61 Note 1: Day Care Centres/Units for the Elderly Note 2: Integrated Home Care Services (Frail Cases) and Enhanced Home and Community Care Services (2) The SWD has been monitoring the implementation of the SCNAMES, and regularly reviewing service data, case assessment and service allocation to ensure the effective operation of the SCNAMES. As mentioned above, since the implementation of the new SCNAMES, the SWD had not received any appeal case. The number of pre-appeal mediation cases was less than that of the same period before the SCNAMES was updated. (3) The SWD has uploaded leaflets and information about the new SCNAMES to its website for public access. Since 2020, the SWD has organised more than 10 district sharing sessions, introducing the new assessment mechanism, assessment tool, service matching system, etc., to over 3 200 social workers, accredited assessors and service providers. In addition, the SWD conducted more than 60 classes to provide training to over 2 200 on-job accredited assessors and new assessors. Elderly persons who wish to learn more about the assessment tool and matching mechanism may approach the caseworkers responsible for their application for long term care services.