The pioneer of CGAT – Into the new era of community nursing

Dr Mok Chun-keung, Francis
Deputy Hospital Chief Executive
Tuen Mun Hospital

Communication is essential for every position. To improve the healthcare service for elderly patients, Dr Francis Mok has been advocating the idea of Community Geriatric Assessment Team (CGAT) to the public for more than 20 years, which enables the provision of comprehensive assessment and treatment for patients at elderly homes. Training has also been offered to staff at elderly homes to facilitate extended care services in the community. Internally, Dr Mok has acted as a bridge for communication, thereby creating a harmonious working environment.

Dr Mok, a geriatrician, has been working in the Hospital Authority (HA) for over 33 years. When he was working at Princess Margaret Hospital, he participated in the newly developed CGAT service. He was glad to take part in the project since CGAT was the first outreach service of HA, marking a significant milestone for community nursing. In hindsight, he says that CGAT perhaps is the most well-established and comprehensive platform for medical-social collaboration.

Dr Mok was appointed as the Chief of Service of Medicine & Geriatrics Department of Tuen Mun Hospital in 2011. At that time, he and his colleagues were facing increasing service demand, as well as staff attrition and low morale. “To solve the problems and unite everyone, I improved the department’s management by inviting a number of supervisors to ascertain the root causes of the problems and propose solutions every week. The proposals were discussed and deliberated at department meetings to work out feasible actions. During our monthly tea gathering, we exchanged views with frontline staff, where colleagues could understand more about the direction of the department’s development. As a result, we were back in lockstep with each other with stronger team spirit.” Although Dr Mok is retiring next year, he will continue to make full use of his professional knowledge to share health information to the elderly and promote the quality service of HA through activities held by NGOs or churches.