Mr Li Ka-shing pioneered the charitable
hospice movement in China. In 1998, the first free hospice was established
in The First Affiliated Hospital of Shantou University Medical College.
Through LKSF's "Heart of Gold" National Hospice Service
Program, 65,000 patients who could not afford medication and care
have been offered free hospice and palliative care. By 2008, the
service will be expanded through 28 hospices nationwide, offering
care to more than 18,000 patients each year.
LKSF has, in 2008, extended the nationwide "Heart of Gold"
Hospice Service Program from Mainland China to Hong Kong to provide
terminal-stage cancer patients with palliative care services. This
programme will see the establishment of eight hospice day care centres
across seven hospital clusters. These newly established hospice
day care centres seek to ease the pain of the dying by combining
a comfortable home-like and tranquil atmosphere together with convenient
access to professional care, equipment, and social and psychiatric
support resources in one hub.
Over a three-year period, new integrated programmes will serve
the community through a range of comfort and care services including
day care, home care, community education, to promulgate a positive
end-of-life attitude, volunteer training and research. The funds
will also be used to recruit more medical and counseling professionals
to join the service. The Hospital Authority (HA) will provide a
matching fund for the programme.
The palliative care services will also extend psychological and
bereavement support to anguished families, especially children,
during their suffering and loss. Under this programme, 8,000 psychological
counseling sessions will be provided, while an estimated 750 bereaved
children and 500 families will benefit. HA anticipates that the
enhanced services made possible by the programme will serve an additional
5,000 cancer patients, 20,000 day attendances and 12,000 home visits.
The eight public hospitals participating in the Hong Kong palliative
programme are Queen Mary Hospital, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern
Hospital, Grantham Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, United Christian
Hospital, Princess Margaret Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital and
Tuen Mun Hospital.
To date, total funding for the "Heart of Gold" Hospice
Service Program in the Mainland and Hong Kong exceeds HKD240 million.
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