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Shirley Zhao

Hong Kong’s health minister says the public hospital authority should recruit dozens more doctors from overseas and give them longer contracts to relieve a manpower shortage.
Dr Ko Wing-man said there was a shortage of between 200 and 300 medical staff in the public hospital system and that increasing the number of non-local doctors in departments with highest demand, such as in anaesthesiology and accident and emergency wards, would improve the situation.
“We feel that if there are dozens [of non-local doctors], over 50 for example, it may give relatively notable relief for some departments under especially high work pressure,” Ko said on Monday.
Hong Kong needs to open the door to foreign doctors
In 2015 there were about 150 doctors with non-local qualifications practising in Hong Kong without having to take local exams. They were on one-year contracts with conditions and restrictions set by the Hospital Authority and could only work for public hospitals.
In a radio interview, Ko said he hoped the authority could extend the contracts to three years to better attract talent.
The short contract terms had deterred many overseas doctors from taking part in the recruitment scheme, with practitioners complaining they had to renew their licences annually or apply for a general registration, which allows them to work permanently in the city but requires a three-part exam and a 12-month internship.
But medical sector lawmaker Dr Pierre Chan said he worried that expanding the limited registration scheme could lead to a lower quality of doctors.
He said exams and the internship were necessary to ensure standards and that around 20 to 30 per cent of the 13,000 permanently registered doctors were non-locals.
“We welcome non-local doctors,” Chan said. “We have a system to fully register local and non-local doctors. We hope the government will not undermine the system.”
Ko also revealed that the authority would increase the number of pharmacists by “a notable number” to improve clinical services this year. Details of the authority’s working plan for this year would be announced after next month’s budget, he said.
Asked whether he would stay in his post or seek another role in the next administration, Ko said he was still considering the mattter. “I have been very interested in clinical work.”
He said Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s announcement that he would not seek a second term was one of the important factors he would bear in mind.


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Hong Kong needs dozens more foreign doctors, health minister says

Health minister Dr Ko Wing-man says recruiting more foreign doctors would ease the pressure on certain hospital departments. Photo: Dickson Lee

Interview with Dr Pierre Chan Pui-yin, Chairman of Public Doctors' Association, in Ruttonjee Hospital. 13JAN16 SCMP/Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Ko Wing-man wants non-local practitioners to be given longer contracts to work in public hospitals, despite opposition from medical profession
