Page 185 - Hospital Authority Convention 2017

Parallel Sessions
Parallel Sessions

PS6.1 Service Planning for the Ageing Population 10:45 Convention Hall A

Planning for the Future Elderly Services – a Local Perspective
Lam CC
Elderly Commission, Hong Kong HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2017
In the face of an ageing population and increasing longevity, Hong Kong policymakers must adopt a proactive approach
towards planning ahead to meet the growing demand for elderly services. Furthermore, the future generations of elderly have
higher expectations of the quality of service delivery, diversity and choices, as well as their autonomy in making informed
choices.

The Elderly Commission, led by the speaker formulates the Elderly Services Programme Plan (ESPP) by making long-term
projections of future service needs of the elderly and giving advice to the Government on the strategic directions that elderly
service sector should evolve towards. Perspectives on the roles of medical and healthcare professionals and public health
policymakers in the paradigm shift in future elderly services will also be shared.

PS6.2 Service Planning for the Ageing Population 10:45 Convention Hall A

Considerations for a Geriatric Surgery Service
Tan KY
Department of General Surgery, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore

The management of elderly surgical patients has to be at a higher level compared to a younger patient. Geriatric surgical
patients require multi-faceted holistic care. Considerations should include the physiological changes associated with ageing.
Surgical management and planning for these patients must thus be holistic and all encompassing. It should be anticipatory
of not only medical and surgical problems that may arise but also address the psychosocial issue that may arise. It should
not aim to reduce morbidity and mortality in this group of patients only but more importantly, their post-operative functional
status should be addressed aggressively so as to preserve their independence. Indeed, failure to address all these issues
in an elderly patient may have a negative impact on the outcomes. Treatment goals have to be clear when the elderly are Wednesday, 17 May
treated. Appropriate informed consent is important to ensure a satisfactory outcome for all sides.
Competing comorbidities, functional deficits and frailty in elderly surgical patients demand a more coordinated multifaceted
care in order to achieve good outcomes. It is also beneficial to use geriatric practice in elderly surgical patients. While most
centres claim that all surgical patients are managed in a multi-disciplinary fashion, experts from each discipline may still be
working in their own silos. Only with a trans-disciplinary approach can achieve an optimal fashion that these complex patients
demand. Only then can the real and practical outcome measure of functional return be achieved.

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