The Hong Kong government intends to amend the legislation to exempt the introduction of non-local doctors, the Association of Public Medical Doctors President Ma Chung Yi worried that the new system is being abused.
On Tuesday (18) announced plans to amend the legislation to exempt non-local doctors from registration, and is submitting the draft to the Legislative Council for first reading next month. The Secretary for Food and Health, Mr. Chan Siu-chee, said when meeting with reporters that the decision was based on the deterioration of the current shortage of doctors, and no political considerations, but avoided discussing whether the introduction of mainland Chinese physicians will be included. Public Medical Doctors Association President Ma Chung Yi pointed out to this station that the amendment will not help solve the problem, and worry about the new system is abused, reiterating: “medical problems are not more doctors to solve to!” (Reported by Lee Chi Chi)
Food and Health Bureau held a press conference at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday (18) to give an account of the draft amendment to the “Medical Registration Ordinance”. The Secretary for Food and Health, Mr. Chan Siu-chee, said that the Executive Council last Tuesday has passed the “Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2021”, relaxing the non-local doctors to practice in Hong Kong, but refers to four conditions, including a permanent resident of Hong Kong; hold a recognized medical qualification awarded by a non-local medical school; in the Medical Council “special registration”, and After obtaining a specialist qualification for at least five years, and through the employer’s assessment as satisfactory, etc.. The draft will be read for the first time in the Legislative Council on June 2.
Chan also pointed out that the Hong Kong Government proposed the establishment of a 10-member “special registration committee” to develop a mechanism and a list of medical qualifications, including no more than 100 accredited institutions, which will be reviewed every three years. However, the “special registration committee” members are only representatives of the Department of Health, representatives of the Hospital Authority, the Chairman of the Medical Council, representatives of the Medical College, two medical school deans, and no more than four members appointed by the Chief Executive, not including representatives of medical associations or patient organizations.
Ma Zhongyi: It does not help to solve the problem of public medical system
The president of the Association of Public Medical Doctors, Mr. Ma Chung Yi, criticized the committee for not including the medical association, and its evaluation list may not meet the needs of front-line medical care. She also pointed out that the Hong Kong government provided a new way to bypass the Medical Council, exempting non-local doctors from the Hong Kong examination and internship training, fearing that the impact on medical standards.
Ma Chung Yi said: they (Special Registration Committee) of course knowledgeable, but they have not worked in the front line for a long time, how to assess their suitability to work in the front line, the past is through the (Hong Kong) examination and internship, but now there is no longer. Their choice is suitable? And the Medical Council used to approve the registration of doctors at different levels are involved, including looking at the two university courses, and non-local doctors have to practice test to ensure that the standard of doctors, but now are not.
Chen Zhao Shi: the list of accredited institutions without specifying the country or region
In Tuesday’s press conference, Chen Zhaoshi was asked whether the list will include those from mainland China, such as the approval of mainland colleges can “withstand political pressure”, and why other professions such as lawyers, accountants, etc. also need to test, but non-local doctors in Hong Kong can be exempted from the problem. Chen said that the list does not specify a specific country, repeatedly said that the “four hurdles”, stressed that the Committee “objective, independent, professional”, will not have any political considerations.
Chan said: the list does not specify a particular country, the development is entirely by the Special Registration Committee decision, will take into account international rankings, courses, language, the government did not specifically say to include those places or regions.
Chen Zhaoshi cited data to emphasize that the shortage of doctors in Hong Kong will continue to worsen, lagging far behind Singapore, Japan, the United States and other places, the next 10 to 20 years will lack about 1,600 to 1,900 doctors, the shortage of public medical doctors is particularly serious, resulting in the extension of waiting time for different specialist clinics, ranging from 31 to 133 weeks.
Chan Siu-shek continued that the current number of doctors increased to 530, but “the increase in local school places alone is not enough to cope with the demand. As for why not to increase the number of places, she said it takes time to train doctors, the two medical schools training capacity has limitations, so the need to use non-local resources to increase the supply of doctors in Hong Kong to meet the demand for services.
But Ma reiterated that the heavy medical load comes from the entire medical system, increasing the number of doctors will not help solve the problems of the public health care system.
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