Shift handovers without lost information

Hong Kong's residential care landscape

As at 31 March 2025, subsidised residential places were provided by 120 subvented homes (15,284 places), 50 contract homes (4,527 places), 196 private homes in the Enhanced Bought Place Scheme (11,216 places) and 6 subvented nursing homes (1,574 places). All residential care homes for the elderly are licensed under Cap. 459 and must follow the SWD Code of Practice, revised in June 2024.

SWD, Residential Care Services statistics 2024-25SWD, Code of Practice for Residential Care Homes (Elderly Persons)

An acute shortage of care workers

In 2023 the government launched the Special Scheme to Import Care Workers for Residential Care Homes to tackle what it called an acute shortage. The quota is capped at 7,000 imported care workers, with priority for local workers preserved. Teams are therefore more mixed than ever, and clear, structured records help new and experienced staff work from the same information.

GovHK, Special Scheme to Import Care Workers (2023)LegCo Panel on Welfare Services paper (February 2023)

Handovers in a 24-hour service

Residential care runs day and night, and information is most at risk at the moment one shift hands over to the next. A summary that groups the shift's notes by resident and highlights incidents first lets the incoming team focus on what matters, even when some members have recently joined.