Coroner Urges Crackdown On Substandard Care Homes

The Coroner’s Court on Wednesday urged the government to compile a blacklist of substandard elderly care homes and prosecute any that violate regulations, instead of just warning them.

The call was made at the end of an inquest into the death of Wong Chi-shing, a 60-year-old mentally disabled man who had been a resident of the Ngau Tau Kok Cambridge Nursing Home.

The court found that Wong died of natural causes after developing pneumonia.

But before he died on February 2, 2016, he had been sent to hospital, where staff found that gauze and tape had been stuffed inside his rectum.

The victim’s family had previously complained about maltreatment, after they found someone had put more than one nappy on him at once.

Evidence presented in the hearing revealed other problems, too. It was found that Wong’s temperature and other vital signs were not measured for at least five weeks leading up to his death.

The court was told about a shortage of manpower at the home, inaccurate staff roster records, and of workers forging signatures of family members on documents.

Coroner Monica Chow said the existing laws are not providing enough protection for elderly people in similar circumstances.

She made 10 recommendations on how the Social Welfare Department could improve its oversight, among them a blacklist of elderly homes that violate regulations.

She said officials should refer to such a list when considering whether to review an institution’s licence.

The coroner also said care homes should be prosecuted, instead of merely being warned, for repeated violations of regulations.

She told the department to report back to her in six months' time regarding its implementation of her recommendations.