Elderly care voucher scheme falls short in six districts

The Ombudsman has found insufficient capacity to provide service to elderly using the Community Care Service Voucher in six of the city's 18 districts.

A pilot scheme on CCS vouchers was introduced in September 2013 to help the elderly to age in place under the "money following the user" mode.

The 2022 policy address sought to regularize the pilot scheme in the third quarter of this year, aiming to increase the number of beneficiaries by 50 percent from 8,000 now to 12,000 in fiscal year 2025-26 and extend the scope of service to renting assistive technology products.

The Ombudsman found that until December last year, the demand for center-based service was 5,289, while only 4,191 day-care service quotas were available.

Assuming one service place could accommodate 1.5 elderly persons, service places were insufficient in six districts - Eastern, Southern, Wong Tai Sin, Sha Tin, Islands and Yuen Long districts.

On the other hand, the 12,689 home-based service quotas were sufficient to cater for the demand of 9,035 people.

Although some districts have limited supply, the demand and supply was balanced off by service providers offering cross-district home-based services.

The watchdog called on the Social Welfare Department to invite more elderly care centers to offer services and extend modes and coverage of service in districts keen to provide more places.

Since the implementation of the scheme, 8,000 vouchers were distributed by 2020-21, but more than 20 percent of elderly persons deserted the scheme.

The Ombudsman suggested that the department should actively invite eligible persons on the central waiting list for subsidized long-term care services to apply for CCS vouchers and reach out to understand the reasons for not using the services.

The Ombudsman said it recognized the challenges in supplying elderly care services, adding that the government should find more venues and service providers to match the demand for services.

"Time is needed to establish new centers. It is up to whether the government can find land to build such centers, and if there are enough qualified personnel to provide such services," said Ombudsman Winnie Chiu Wai-yin.

"The pilot scheme's operation differs from traditional subsidized services. It will need more time to test related measures, therefore it is inevitable for it to run for 10 years," Chiu said.

The Social Welfare Department acknowledged the Ombudsman's suggestions and said it will launch a voucher information system for the elderly next month to provide real-time information on usage and related services.

It hopes the new measures will attract more eligible elderly to use the service and encourage more service providers to participate in the scheme.

charlie.chun@singtaonewscorp.com