Policy Address

Mental Health

145. The Government attaches great importance to mental health, and will continue to adopt an integrated approach to promote mental health, which covers prevention, early identification, as well as provision of timely intervention, treatment and rehabilitation for persons in need. We strive to implement the 10 enhanced measures announced in June for supporting persons in mental recovery and those with mental health needs, which include:

  1. expedite case management – The HA will optimise the ratio of case manager to patients with severe mental illness to no higher than 1:40 under the Case Management Programme. For new cases triaged as Priority 1 (urgent) and Priority 2 (semi-urgent) at psychiatric specialist outpatient clinics, the median waiting time will be maintained at no longer than one week and four weeks respectively;

  2. enhance community support and training of social workers – The SWD will enhance the services of Integrated Community Centres for Mental Wellness next year, including strengthening early identification of persons with mental health needs and early intervention, and exploring to scale up the training of social workers in community mental health service units to raise their capacity in handling complicated cases;

  3. provide mental health assessment in the community – A pilot scheme will be launched in three District Health Centres next year in collaboration with community organisations to provide mental health assessment for those in need, and to provide early follow-up and referral for high-risk cases;

  4. strengthen training of Care Team members – Care Team members will be provided with mental health support training to assist in the early referral of persons in need in the local communities for support; and

  5. launch a "Mental Health Literacy" resource kit – The EDB will launch a "Mental Health Literacy" resource kit suitable for upper primary and junior secondary levels in the 2023/24 school year, and prepare the same for lower primary and senior secondary levels, with a view to enhancing student awareness of mental health and assisting schools in promoting it.