Head of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority ‘to lure city’s medical talent back home during UK trip’ amid staff crunch
- Hospital Authority’s Tony Ko to visit three top British medical schools to gauge interest among Hong Kong students in joining public health sector, insider says
- Authority delegation will hosts advertised recruitment event for medical sector in London to tout advantages of working in Hong Kong
The head of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority will visit three of Britain’s top medical schools and take part in recruitment events to encourage students from the city to return home and join the public healthcare system to combat staff shortages, the Post has learned.
The delegation, led by the authority’s chief executive, Dr Tony Ko Pat-sing, left for the United Kingdom this week to host a recruitment event for the sector in London, while an insider said Ko would also meet Hong Kong students at three medical schools during the trip.
Data from the Health Bureau provided to the Legislative Council on March 15 showed Hong Kong’s public hospitals were contending with a lack of manpower, after losing 1,247 doctors between April 2020 and the end of 2022, with only 15 per cent of them retiring.
A social media post by the authority ahead of Sunday’s event at London’s Euston Square touted Hong Kong’s affordable taxes and other benefits of working in the public health sector.
Doctors, specialists and medical students were encouraged to attend, with job offers for eligible participants able to be arranged on-site or online, it said.
The insider also revealed that Ko would meet UK medical school undergraduates from Hong Kong to pitch the city’s registration scheme for non-locally trained doctors, as well as promote internship and employment opportunities.
The trips to University College London, Imperial College London and Queen Mary University of London early next week to meet professors and students would be used to gauge the latter group’s interest in returning to Hong Kong after graduating, the source added.
