Castle Peak Hospital

History

Establishment

Castle Peak Hospital is the oldest extant psychiatric hospital in Hong Kong. It replaced the older Victoria Mental Hospital on Hong Kong Island as the main public inpatient hospital for the treatment of mental illness. Castle Peak Hospital was opened by the then-Governor Robert Black on 27 March 1961. The 1,000-bed hospital, occupying a site, was spread over 10 buildings. Four two-storey blocks accommodated the patients, who were divided in two sections by gender. The hospital, designed by the Public Works Department to have an "open and pleasant" atmosphere, included teaching and residential facilities for psychiatric nursing students.

Redevelopment

The hospital completed its redevelopment project in 2006. As the design and construction of the old hospital dated back to the 1950s, after nearly 40 years of heavy utilisation, redevelopment of the whole hospital to upgrade its facilities was necessary in order to keep the hospital functional, and the project commenced in 1992.

The redevelopment of the hospital was carried out in two phases. The Phase I project was funded by a donation of $500 million from the Hong Kong Jockey Club. The Phase II redevelopment, at an estimated cost of $1,470.8 million, was funded by the government. The modernised and improved facilities and environment facilitate treatment and rehabilitation of patients, and their re-integration into the community.

Description

Castle Peak Hospital (CPH) is a psychiatric hospital with about 1,100 beds. It provides general psychiatric admissions for residents of NTW cluster. Forensic inpatient service is provided to the whole of Hong Kong. It also manages a network of psychiatric clinics and a day hospital, providing outpatient and day patient services. Its address is 15 Tsing Chung Koon Road, Tuen Mun, NT.

Most of the wards of the Hospital is "gazetted" (published in HK Government Gazette as a mental hospital under Mental Health Ordinances of HK Law), meaning that the wards of the Hospital admit voluntary and involuntary patients under the Mental Health Ordinance.

Services

The main services provided by Castle Peak Hospital are general psychiatric services, providing care for patients of different age groups and different types of mental illnesses. In addition to General Psychiatry, Castle Peak Hospital provides sub-specialty services in Forensic Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Intellectual Disability, Psychogeriatrics, Rehabilitation, Community Psychiatry and Consultation-liaison Psychiatry.

All types of modern psychiatric treatment work are available in hospital, including the use of drugs and other physical methods of treatment, and psychological and social treatment. Multi-disciplinary teamwork is emphasised in the provision of treatment and care for patients. The recent trend is to put emphasis not only on hospital treatment, but also on community psychiatric care. The Hospital is seeking to provide an integrated service, taking hospital care and community care as complementary to one another. Altogether there are 15 male wards and 9 female wards and 2 mixed sex wards. Most patients in the hospital are undergoing intensive rehabilitation in preparation for discharge and some of them are permitted to go out of the hospital in the day time to work during the final stage of their rehabilitation.

CPH is a recognised training centre for trainees in medical, nursing, occupational therapy and other relevant professional fields. Its training program for psychiatric trainees is recognised by the respective Colleges of Psychiatrists in Hong Kong, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

In popular culture

In Hong Kong Cantonese, due to its historic nature, the name of the hospital () is used both to refer to mental illness and as a slang for "psycho".

References

References

1. "Hospital Brief". Castle Peak Hospital.
2. (24 March 1961). "Governor to open Castle Peak Hospital". South China Morning Post.
3. (28 March 1961). "Governor opens hospital in Castle Peak District for treatment of mental illness". South China Morning Post.