Ailing public health care sector gets HK$80.6 billion shot in the arm from Hong Kong budget

Hong Kong’s overloaded health sector emerged as one of the biggest winners in Wednesday’s budget, receiving morale-boosting measures worth a total of HK$80.6 billion (US$10.3 billion) in recurrent expenditure – a significant increase of more than 10 per cent from last year. One move that won praise was the creation of a new HK$10 billion (US$1.3 billion) stabilisation fund to help the Hospital Authority weather financial storms. The sum was equivalent to about two months of spending by the authority, which runs Hong Kong’s public hospitals. A government source said it provided a safety net for the health care sector in the event the government was unable to provide sufficient funding, for example during an economic downturn. Delivering his budget speech on Wednesday, Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po said: “I have noticed many people from the public and private medical sectors, even university professors, have expressed worries about future resources. Creating the fund is meant to give everyone an assurance.” We are currently reviewing their remuneration package so as to retain them and attract more people to work in public hospitals John Leong Chi-yan, Hospital Authority chairman He said the public health sector would be able to tap the fund immediately, should the government not have enough money or if some unexpected circumstances arose. The government source would not say whether the idea stemmed from a similar proposal by University of Hong Kong (HKU) Professor Yuen Kwok-yung, who called for a HK$50 billion safety net. The source stressed various suggestions for some kind of stabilisation fund had been tossed around during the consultation period for this year’s budget. Yuen, a top microbiologist, said the budget measures for the Hospital Authority were the most generous ever and he was not disappointed that the stabilisation fund amount was lower than he had suggested. “I think HK$10 billion is already pretty good,” Yuen said. “The Hospital Authority has been treated very well this time.” The Society for Community Organisation, a non-governmental organisation, welcomed the government’s move to support medical expenditure, but a spokesman doubted whether the HK$10 billion fund could really help the most pressing areas in the system. He suggested allowing the authority to use the HK$10 billion to develop health services that responded to changes in demand. The stabilisation fund was among a raft of measures aimed at soothing the city’s manpower-starved and stressed public medical sector, which resulted in overworked doctors, nurses and other staff protesting strenuously at being overwhelmed by a large number of patients during the recent peak flu season. Praising their professionalism and passion in serving the community, Chan set aside HK$80.6 billion for the public health system – 10.9 per cent more than last year, and accounting for 18.3 per cent of the government’s total recurrent expenditure. The Hospital Authority’s usual annual subvention would also rise to HK$68.8 billion (US$8.8 billion), an increase of more than 8 per cent from the previous year. The authority would also get additional recurrent funding of more than HK$700 million (US$89.2 million) to implement measures to help retain staff. The source expected allowances for doctors on call to rise by 55 per cent, while working staff could look forward to a higher overtime rate. Some 16,000 supporting staff could expect pay increases, and more than 200 posts for senior nurses would be added. A doctor from Tuen Mun Hospital’s department of medicine and geriatrics welcomed the increased allowances and overtime pay, but said they would not completely solve the staffing problem. “Frontline staff are not leaving because of insufficient allowances for being on call,” he said. “I don’t think a member of staff who wants to leave would stay because of extra overtime pay.” Hong Kong’s health care system is teetering on the brink. What can be done? What was needed, he said, was more staff to share the heavy workload. He agreed, however, this was not something that could be done in a short time. Medical services legislator Joseph Lee Kok-long welcomed the initiative to employ more allied health staff, but was disappointed that there was no explanation on how the authority would retain experienced staff. Medical sector lawmaker Dr Pierre Chan said the finance minister did not address the issue of long working hours faced by frontline staff and he was unimpressed by the potential increase in allowances for on-call doctors. To improve the provision of medicines in public hospitals, the authority would get HK$400 million (US$51 million) in additional recurrent funding to expand the list of prescription drugs available. Another HK$5 billion (US$637 million) was earmarked to hasten the upgrading of critical medical equipment such as PET scan devices and new technology for cancer treatments. Beyond the public hospitals, Chan also announced an allocation of HK$1.2 billion (US$153 million) to implement the Hong Kong Genome Project to develop innovative scientific research. He also earmarked more than HK$150 million (US$19.1 million) to push ahead with starting the first primary health care centre in Kwai Tsing before expanding to other districts. Hong Kong doctors divided over China’s Greater Bay Area plans for health care A note of dismay came from the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, which said it was regrettable that the government did not highlight any measures to improve the training of medical specialists. The Hospital Authority chairman, Professor John Leong Chi-yan, welcomed the budget and expressed gratitude for the government’s support for the public sector. He said the authority was mindful of doctors’ heavy workload given the manpower crunch and was planning a series of measures to boost morale, ranging from increments for nurses who obtained specialist qualifications to adding more promotion positions for pharmacists. “Facing a high turnover of supporting staff, we are currently reviewing their remuneration package so as to retain them and attract more people to work in public hospitals,” Leong added.

Ailing public health care sector gets HK$80.6 billion shot in the arm from Hong Kong budget

A new HK$10 billion stabilisation fund will offer sector a safety net Extra funding will be provided to expand the list of prescription drugs

A new HK$10 billion stabilisation fund will offer sector a safety net

Extra funding will be provided to expand the list of prescription drugs