Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ7: HA's policy on the employment of doctors

        Following is a question by the Dr Hon Lo Wing-lok and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr Yeoh Eng-kiong, in the Legislative Council today (March 24):

 

Question:

 

        It has been reported that in response to the campaign of the Frontline Doctors Union, the Hospital Authority (HA) has agreed to employ all the 300 interns graduating this year and to renew the contracts of all resident doctors who will acquire specialist qualifications this year.  In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether the Administration will ask HA to review the arrangement of determining on a yearly basis the number of doctors to be employed, as well as to formulate a set of long-term policies on the employment of doctors, having regard to the manpower requirement of public hospitals and HA's responsibility to train specialists; if such a review will be conducted and policies formulated, of the details; if not, of the measures in place to ensure that HA will train up an adequate number of specialists and that the quality of public health care service will not be affected by the sense of insecurity of contract doctors?

 

Reply:

 

        The Government ensures that the supply of doctors, including specialists, in Hong Kong is broadly in line with the longer term requirements of the population by monitoring and reviewing the manpower planning for medical and health professionals regularly, taking into consideration the changing demographics, changes and advances in medical technologies and in the context of the development of the local health care system.  As the major provider of systematic training for doctors in Hong Kong, the Hospital Authority (HA) is committed to supporting the Government's manpower planning by providing training to a sufficient number of specialists to meet the needs of the community.

 

        Having regard to this commitment, HA works closely with the Government, the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine and its Colleges in deciding the number of new Residents to be admitted for specialist training.  The factors to be considered include the projected specialist requirements, the projected supply of specialists in the light of the number of trainees completing training, the turnover rates, HA's plan on service development, the training capacities in HA hospitals and the applicants' suitability for specialist training. 

 

        The training period for specialist trainees in various clinical specialties is usually six years, and an extra year would be flexibly administered to suit individual trainee's progress and requirements of the Colleges.  Individual trainees may also be given further contract extension depending on appropriate justification and circumstances.  For Family Medicine (FM) trainees and Residents on the vocational general practice programme, two-year contracts will initially be offered.  Suitable FM trainees will be offered a second two-year contract for community-based training after completion of the first contract.  Upon completion of specialist training, the specialists have to exit the HA training system.  They may apply for specialist posts in HA available at the time.  They may also apply for Associate Consultant and Consultant posts or go into private practice.

 

        The number of doctors, including specialists, to be employed by HA varies from time to time and depends on the prevailing service needs and staff turnover.  The HA considers that the current arrangement for specialist training has functioned well to fulfil its specialist training commitments as well as to allow flexibility for adjusting the number of specialists in consideration of these factors.  Nevertheless, the HA is keeping the arrangement under regular review to ensure that the needs of the community and the organisation's requirements in terms of the number of specialists are well met. 

 

        In the process of determining the number of new Resident positions to be made available each year, the HA has already taken into consideration the projected specialist requirements amongst other factors.  Thus, there will be a sufficient supply of specialist for both HA and the community, and the trained specialists are likely to enjoy sufficient employment opportunities within or without the HA on completion of training. 

 

        To ensure that the quality of specialist services is maintained through the retention of experienced specialists, the HA will re-examine its succession plan for specialists.  The HA will also examine mechanisms to enable longer-term career planning by doctors.  In the year of 2004-05, the HA is planning to renew the contract of around 100 Residents, after they have completed their specialist training and attained Specialist qualification, as Resident Specialists.

 

        The HA will continue to strengthen communication with Residents by informing them of the HA's recruitment plan in the coming year in a timely manner.  The HA will also organise talks for all contract doctors regularly on the career opportunities available in HA and in the private sector.

 

Ends/Wednesday, March 24, 2004

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