HONG KONG: The plan to have at least one psychiatric nurse at each of the seven government-aided counseling centers for drug abusers beginning this month appears to have been put off.

Some agencies looking for nurses said so far they have received a lukewarm response from applicants. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said in August that extra funding will be given to each center to hire a psychiatric nurse.

The extra funding of about HK$670,000 a year is available this month to each center, for the purpose of recruiting one psychiatric nurse and helping refer drug abusers to private doctors, the Social Welfare Department said.

It said the nurses are expected to carry out physical exams and drug tests for drug users as well as to provide drug-related medical consultation.

Wendy Hon Siu-wan, the center-in-charge of the Hong Kong Christian Service PS33, which helps drug abusers in West Kowloon, said two applications have been received so far.

"The benefits welfare groups provide may not be as appealing as those offered by the Hospital Authority," she said.

She said her center has been hiring a part-time general nurse to help out for about two to three years, and the result has proven quite satisfactory.

"The nurse can carry out simple physical exams for the teens, so they can know more about how their health has been affected by drugs," she said.

Hon said she hopes authorities will allow agencies to hire general nurses instead.

Hezon Tang Kwok-hei, the center-in-charge of the Cheer Lutheran Centre, which serves drug addicts in Tai Po and North districts, said it has posted a job vacancy since mid-August but has received only one application from a psychiatric nurse but more from general nurses.

He said it is mainly because Hong Kong is short of psychiatric nurses, suggesting that the scarcity of applicants probably has nothing to do with the working environment at the center.

Joseph Lee Kok-long, the lawmaker for the health services sector and a member of the Nursing Council, said, "even hospitals are short of psychiatric nurses. Who will apply for the posts at those centers?"

"It is the authorities' wish to have psychiatric nurses at the centers, but the idea has not been supported by proper planning for manpower training in the field," he said.

He said if the centers hire general nurses instead, it may not be able to achieve the original objectives. "General nurses are not trained with skills to promote mental health," he said.

Raymond Fung Hing-kau, the social work supervisor of the Caritas Hugs Centre, which helps drug users in Tuen Mun, Kwai Tsing and Tsuen Wan, said it will be good if the centers can borrow psychiatric nurses from the Hospital Authority.

"We initially planned to do more promotion and carry out physical exams for drug users starting from this month, but the plan is now on hold," he said.

(HK Edition 10/09/2009 page1)