Reinstate flexible timings for outpatient mental health services so sufferers can balance work and treatment, Hong Kong support groups urge - South China Morning Post

Outpatient mental health services in Hong Kong should be resumed in the evenings and weekends so patients do not have to take time off during office hours and face discrimination, a study has found.

About 80 per cent of 439 mental health patients polled by the Concord Mutual-aid Club Alliance, a patient rights and self-help group, said if such services were available, they would not have to make up excuses to attend consultations.

In 2001, the Hospital Authority offered the first general outpatient service in the evening for mental health patients, but this was terminated in 2006 because of low usage rates and what was deemed as sufficient daytime services.

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Advocacy groups however said there was not enough public awareness of the services, as the government did not promote it widely.

Half of the respondents in the survey work in the private sector and the rest are employed by social enterprises or sheltered workshops. Close to 80 per cent of those in the private sector agreed that authorities should reinstate evening services, as this would allow more discretion for sufferers and combat discrimination at the office.

Nearly 90 per cent of those polled also said they believed more flexible hours for consultations would help them retain their jobs, or find new ones.

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Some 75 per cent of interviewees said they hoped that in terms of general health services, the government could also provide blood tests and injections during non-office hours.

Retiree Philip Wong Man-lip, a former patient and a member of support group Alliance of Ex-mentally Ill of Hong Kong, said he was greatly disturbed by the discrimination he faced in his working life.

“It was a nightmare for me,” Wong said. He said he was fired shortly after his employer found out he had been on medication for mental illness. “They fired me claiming I was not suitable for the job, but my previous appraisals were good.”

They fired me claiming I was not suitable for the job, but my previous appraisals were good

Philip Wong, former patient

He added that if mental health patients mentioned their history of illness in job interviews, their chances of securing employment were slim.

Another patient, surnamed Yuen, said he now worked night shifts because he had to visit clinics during the day. “If I could go to the doctor at night, I would not need to look for jobs at night,” he said.

He also said he hoped employers could focus on the capability of patients who were recovering, rather than on their mental health being a liability.

Leung Mung-hung, adviser of another support group, Christian Oi Hip Fellowship, which took part in the research, called for the government to strengthen training and education for employers, as well as protect the rights of recovered patients through legislation.

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Social welfare sector legislator Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said it was absolutely necessary for the government to bring back evening services so patients would not need to disrupt their work for doctors’ consultations, adding to more stress and anxiety.

“It not only affects the patients’ work, but also their health condition,” he said.

Cheung said the previously cited low usage rates for mental illness outpatient services at night were mainly because sufferers could not get their prescriptions in the evening as pharmacies were closed.

“They had to go to the hospital again in the day to get their medicine,” he added.

Samson Tse Shu-ki, professor and convenor of the Mental Health and Social Policy Group at the University of Hong Kong’s faculty of social sciences, said a different study – which he was involved in – showed that discrimination against mental health patients had not improved in the past 16 years.

“We could have used the chance to improve the situation,” he said.

Other co-publishers of the study include HK Citizens and Hong Kong Advocacy Network.

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