Medical Council could face major surgery as government plans reforms
Plans to cut waiting times for complainants by boosting assessment panel with 'lay people' are heading to the Legislative Council for approval
The Medical Council faces major surgery after a highly publicised case in which a celebrity couple whose newborn baby died waited nine years before their doctor was declared guilty of professional misconduct.
The government plans to seek lawmakers' approval this year for reforms to the statutory watchdog that include an increase in the number of people on its panel of assessors.
The changes, the first to be made to the council in a decade, are aimed at cutting the time patients must wait to have their complaints against medical professionals heard.
Council chairman Professor Joseph Lau Wan-yee has said that up to 10 months could be cut from the average waiting time of 38 to 40 months it takes a case to arrive at the hearing stage.
Shortcomings in the complaints system were highlighted by the long delay experienced by singer Peter Cheung Shung-tak and former actress Eugina Lau Mei-kuen after the death of their baby son in 2005.
A Food and Health Bureau source said the planned reforms included an increase from four to 14 in lay people on the council's panel of assessors, in an effort to share the workload.
