Developing primary care in Hong Kong: evidence into practice and the development of reference frameworks.

Enhancing primary care is one of the proposals put forward in the Healthcare Reform Consultation Document "Your Health, Your Life" issued in March 2008. In 2009, the Working Group on Primary Care, chaired by the Secretary for Food and Health, recommended the development of age-group and disease-specific primary care conceptual models and reference frameworks. Drawing on international experience and best evidence, the Task Force on Conceptual Model and Preventive Protocols of the Working Group on Primary Care has developed two reference frameworks for the management of two common chronic diseases in Hong Kong, namely diabetes and hypertension, in primary care settings.

The reference framework for diabetes care in primary care settings.

Diabetes has been evolving as a worldwide epidemic and constitutes one of the important global burdens of diseases. The reference framework for diabetes care has been produced by the Task Force on Conceptual Model and Preventive Protocols of the Working Group on Primary Care, so as to enhance the clinical care for diabetes patients. The guideline emphasises a comprehensive, coordinated approach with interdisciplinary collaboration between major primary care stakeholders throughout the life of the patient.