Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ16: Salaries of doctors of Hospital Authority
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (June 13):
Question:
According to a document issued by the Government to Legislative Council Members
on May 15 this year, the starting salaries for certain grades in the civil
service would be raised by one to five points. As the salary structure of the
staff in the Hospital Authority (HA) has been delinked from the pay scales of
the civil service, the Government, therefore, has not undertaken to raise the
starting salary of HA doctors accordingly. In 2000, due to a fiscal deficit in
the Government, HA lowered the starting salary of doctors by five points, and
their maximum pay points by eight points, both of which have not yet returned to
the pre-2000 level. Earlier, a group of representatives for front-line doctors
openly demanded that the HA raise the starting salary and maximum pay by five
and eight points respectively to boost the persistently low morale and retain
the talents among its doctors. In this connection, will the Government inform
this Council whether it will allocate additional resources to HA so that it can
raise the salaries of its doctors, thus bringing their salaries in line with
those of the corresponding grades in the civil service?
Reply:
Madam President,
In 2000, the Government followed the findings of the 1999 Civil Service Starting
Salaries Survey (SSS) and adjusted downwards the starting salaries for entry
ranks of certain civil service grades. With reference to the findings of the
1999 SSS, the Hospital Authority (HA) lowered the starting salaries for its
entry ranks in 2000, including adjusting downwards the starting salary for the
entry rank of the medical grade by five pay points. On the other hand, the HA
has over the years implemented various reforms on staff's remuneration
structures, amongst which the 2000 Medical Grade Reform has put in place a new
Resident pay scale to cater for the arrangement of specialist training for
Residents.
The Government has recently decided to follow the findings of the 2006 SSS to
adjust upwards the starting salaries of certain civil service grades. As for the
staff of subvented organizations, including the staff HA, since their salary
structures have been delinked from the civil service pay scales, it is up to
these organizations to decide whether or not to follow the starting salaries for
the civil service and adjust their staff's salaries. Regarding the subvention
provided by the Government to the subvented organisations, if the subventions
had been reduced in connection with the downward revision of starting salaries
for the civil service in 2000, the Government will adjust their subventions in
the context of the present exercise of adjustment of starting salaries for the
civil service. The additional subvention allocated to these organisations will
be determined by the terms of individual subvention agreements, the amount of
reductions made in 2000 as a result of the adjustment of starting salaries in
that year, etc. We are now discussing with departments concerned and the HA on
the subvention, with a view to determining the detailed arrangements on the
adjustment of subvention to the HA.
The HA has all along been paying close attention to the overall remuneration
structure and professional development of the medical grade, including its pay
scale. The HA will continue to communicate proactively with its staff and
implement measures to further improve the working hours, remuneration package
and promotion prospects of the medical grade staff, with a view to addressing
the concerns of frontline doctors on issues related to their career prospects,
job security and workload, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:20
NNNN