Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ5: HA's decision to re-create two director posts
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Lo Wing-lok and a reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (March 17):
Question:
It has been reported that the Hospital Authority (HA) has decided to re-create two director posts responsible for internal/external communications and human resources respectively. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows:
(a) the respective specific responsibilities and the total annual expenditure on the salaries, benefits and performance incentive awards of each of these posts;
(b) how the establishment of the above posts will enhance the quality of service of public hospitals; and
(c) if HA will conduct a value-for-money assessment on the above posts; if it will, of the assessment criteria to be adopted?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) & (b) The Hospital Authority (HA) is planning to conduct a recruitment exercise to fill two vacancies in the top executive team. The two vacant posts are those of the Director (Human Resources) and the Deputy Director (Public Affairs).
The former has been vacant since the retirement of the last the Director (Professional Services and Human Resources) in September last year. HA has reviewed its top management structure and concluded that there is an urgent need to strengthen its human resource management function, particularly in view of the recommendations of the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome)Expert Committee Report and the Report of the HA Review panel that various aspects of human resources management should be improved, including communication with staff, co-ordination and deployment of human resources during an outbreak and staff training. Thus HA is in the process of recruiting a Director (Human Resources) while the professional services portfolio of the original post will be shared between the other two directors.
The key responsibilities of the Director (Human Resources) include:
* to provide advice to the HA Board and Management in the development and implementation of HA's human resource strategies, policies and practices;
* to provide leadership in and to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of human resources policies, systems and practices, including, but not limited to, those relating to staff relations, staff training, compensation and benefits, payroll, performance management, compliance, recruitment, retention and succession;
* to develop, revise and implement manpower plans for various grades of staff in collaboration with relevant internal parties; and
* to enlist and foster support for the mission, values, strategies and policies of HA among staff members, including communicating proactively with staff unions and other staff groups.
The Deputy Director (Public Affairs) post has been left vacant since early 2000. The experience in the past four years indicated that there is a need to strengthen expert leadership and strategic advice in respect of the public relations of the Authority. Furthermore, the SARS outbreak revealed that HA's communication with the public and media needed to be improved, as pointed out by the SARS Expert Committee Report and the Report of the HA Review Panel. HA has therefore decided to fill this vacancy again to augment the expertise needed in the development and implementation of public relations and communications strategies, policies and practices.
The key responsibilities of the Deputy Director (Public Affairs) include:
* to develop and implement a public relations strategy to project and reinforce the mission and philosophies of HA;
* to proactively work with the media and other relevant external parties to heighten community awareness on topical issues that arise from time to time;
* to enlist and foster public support for the work of HA to involve the public as partners in healthcare; and
* to collaborate with the internal communication team to ensure the delivery of timely and accurate messages to the media and the public HA staff as and when appropriate.
HA is considering the remuneration package of these two posts. The remuneration packages will be finalised in consideration of the experience and qualifications of the candidates to be appointed.
(c) HA has reviewed its top management structure and has concluded that there is a need to fill these two vacancies to strengthen the organisation's human resources and public affairs functions. After the most appropriate candidates have been appointed, their performance will be closely monitored and assessed by the Chief Executive of HA as well as members of the HA Board with reference to the responsibilities assigned to them, in line with the established performance appraisal system for senior officers. The strength of their expert leadership and the quality of their strategic advice will be the key elements to be assessed.
Ends/Wednesday, March 17, 2004
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