A breakdown of government statistics showed that among 16,490 calls received by the end of last month, 6,265 or 38 per cent sought emotional support, followed by 3,756 inquiring about community support services, or 23 per cent of the overall figure.

‘Stronger than expected’ response for new Hong Kong support hotline for carers

Callers also asked for help on care issues and financial problems, while others also sought help in areas such as health and housing problems, requests for respite services, and family relationship issues.

Seventeen cases required emergency support and callers were offered outreach services by the hotline operator to meet their needs, the government said.

“The carer hotline provides information on community support service, instant consultation and emotional support, counselling service, outreach and emergency support, service referrals,” Ho said.

Commissioned by the Social Welfare Department, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals launched the carer support hotline last September, with 30 telephone lines answered by more than 100 social workers on roster.

The service is among support measures introduced by the government after cases where carers took their own lives or killed those being cared for drew public attention.

Also among the measures is the designated website, which mainly covers information about services provided for elderly and disabled people and their carers, caring skills, community activities and resources.

Lawmakers urged the government to improve support services, including stepping up promotional efforts and taking follow-up actions after calls.

Hong Kong mother arrested after son sees her leave home crying, calls police

Legislator Judy Chan Kapui said immediate support should be offered to those in urgent need through cooperation with district care teams.

She noted a case on Sunday in which a mother of three was arrested for alleged child neglect after her eldest son, nine, called police saying she had left home crying.

Police visited the flat in Tung Chung and found the boy, his six-year-old sister and two-year-old brother all unharmed. The children have been placed in the temporary care of their grandmother.

“If the service is well integrated with the care teams, in fact, when the mother in that case could not bear it and wanted to leave for a while, she could call the 182 183 hotline, and the care team of that district could be sought for help,” she said.

Fellow lawmaker Connie Lam So-wai said the existing support for carers mainly focused on low-income and middle-class households, but the better-off lacked help, pointing to a recent suspected murder-attempted suicide case.

An 84-year-old dementia sufferer was found dead with tape covering his nose and mouth while his wife was discovered injured and unconscious in their upscale flat on Beacon Hill Road in Kowloon Tong in March.

Elderly Hongkonger dies, wife hurt in suspected murder-suicide attempt

Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman, 71, had considered taking her own life around two weeks earlier because she was concerned about not being able to take care of her husband, a source said.

Lam urged authorities to consider organising more activities within residential estates to reach out to more people in need.

Ho said the care teams across the city’s 18 districts were voluntary groups and it was difficult to ask them to offer help to carers around the clock.

He also said the authorities would study how to approach well-off households to offer support.