Our clinical department, first established in the general hospital psychiatric unit at Prince of Wales Hospital, (PWH), has undergone rapid expansion and subspecialization that paralleled the strategically planned population-based service development of the Hospital Authority (HA) of Hong Kong. Over the past three decades, our clinical arm has expanded enormously to reach 1.3 million catchment population of the New Territories East Districts (NTE), taking care of the mental health needs of all ages in acute and rehabilitative service settings based in five HA-funded general hospitals in NTE, namely PWH, Tai Po Hospital, Shatin Hospital (SH), Alice Ho Nethersole Hospital (AHNH), and North District Hospital (NDH). As a university psychiatric department, we have established a close working relationship with the Hospital Authority, with Professor Y K Wing, Chair Professor of our academic department being the Honorary Chief of Service of Department of Psychiatry at PWH and SH and Professor Linda Lam being the Cluster Coordinator in psychiatric service.
The clinical services combine altogether approximately 580 inpatients beds (including both “gazetted” beds under Mental Health Ordinance and “informal” beds), 3 day hospitals, 3 outpatient clinics, 1 community psychiatric team and consultation-liaison psychiatric services for all age groups. The clinical base of our teaching and research unit is one of the largest, coordinated and multidisciplinary services serving a regional and representative population of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).
