Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ8: University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital
Following is a question by the Hon Albert Ho Chun-yan and a written reply by the
Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today
(July 11):
Question:
In recent years, there has been an ongoing wastage of doctors in the public
hospitals, but the proposal put forward by the Hospital Authority to recruit
overseas doctors is opposed by the medical sector. At the same time, under the
Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, Hong Kong
doctors may practise on the Mainland. Recently, it has been reported that the Li
Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (Faculty of Medicine) of the University of Hong
Kong (HKU) collaborates with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to operate the
HKU-Shenzhen Hospital (Shenzhen Hospital), and has deployed a number of renowned
professors to work at Shenzhen Hospital. In this connection, will the Government
inform this Council:
(a) whether it knows the total number of the university academic staff who are
deployed to work at the Shenzhen Hospital by HKU; the number of Hong Kong
doctors other than HKU's academic staff recruited by the hospital; given that it
has been reported that in order to make up for the professors deployed to work
at the Shenzhen Hospital, HKU has given each specialist department permission to
recruit at least three additional doctors, whether the authorities have assessed
if this measure implemented by HKU will aggravate the wastage of doctors in the
public hospitals, and evaluate the impact of the operation of the Shenzhen
Hospital by HKU on the demand for local doctors;
(b) given that even though the aforesaid professors of the Faculty of Medicine
who are deployed to work at the Shenzhen Hospital are HKU's employees, they have
signed employment agreements with the Shenzhen Hospital at the same time and are
required to complete their assigned tasks at the Shenzhen Hospital within a
specified period of time, and that Hong Kong residents are not Shenzhen
Hospital's target clients and the tasks of these professors are not related to
teaching, whether it knows if such arrangements are in compliance with the
funding criteria set down by the University Grants Committee (UGC); if they are
in compliance with the funding criteria, whether UGC will conduct a review to
ensure that the work of the university academic staff who are paid by the public
money of Hong Kong is to serve the academia, members of the public and students
in Hong Kong;
(c) given that the professors of HKU's Faculty of Medicine mentioned in (b), who
have signed employment agreements with the Shenzhen Hospital, are required to
strictly abide by the various laws and regulations of the country, and a number
of renowned professors are even responsible for the management of the Shenzhen
Hospital and are accountable to the Shenzhen Hospital's board of directors,
whether it knows if HKU's Faculty of Medicine and the Medical Council of Hong
Kong have conducted studies on how these professors should deal with situations
where the requests made by the Shenzhen Hospital's board of directors and the
mainland laws and regulations are in violation of the code of practice of the
doctors in Hong Kong; if such studies have been conducted, of the details; and
(d) whether it knows if Hong Kong residents seeking medical treatment at the
Shenzhen Hospital can request their attending doctors to refer them to Hong
Kong's public hospitals for treatment; if not, of the reasons for that; when
local public hospitals receive referrals in respect of Hong Kong residents made
by Hong Kong doctors practising on the Mainland, how they ascertain whether the
referrals are made by such doctors when they are practising in Hong Kong or on
the Mainland?
Reply:
President,
Having consulted the Education Bureau, our reply to the various parts of the
question is as follows:
(a) and (c) The Shenzhen Hospital is a joint project between the University of
Hong Kong (HKU) and the Shenzhen Municipal Government. The arrangements made by
HKU to recruit doctors and deploy manpower for the Shenzhen Hospital are solely
HKU's internal affairs in which the Government of the Hong Kong Special
Administrative Region has not been involved.
According to our understanding, while some of the doctors of the Faculty of
Medicine of HKU will concurrently take up work in the Shenzhen Hospital, most of
the doctors and nurses of the Shenzhen Hospital will be employed on the
Mainland. Under such circumstances, this should not have a significant impact on
the overall manpower demand for doctors in Hong Kong. The Hospital Authority
(HA) has always been concerned about the demand for hospital services and the
manpower situation of doctors, and will maintain liaison with the Faculty of
Medicine of HKU to closely monitor the impact brought about by the operation of
the Shenzhen Hospital on the manpower situation of doctors in Hong Kong.
According to the Code of Professional Conduct for the Guidance of Registered
Medical Practitioners, adverse findings on a Hong Kong registered medical
practitioner in disciplinary proceedings by other professional regulatory bodies
in or outside Hong Kong may likewise invoke the Medical Council of Hong Kong's
disciplinary procedure.
(b) HKU is an independent autonomous statutory body that enjoys institutional
autonomy in engaging in self-financing activities. Nevertheless, as a University
Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institution, HKU should ensure that its
self-financing activities do not detract from the university's core work in Hong
Kong, and that there should be a distinct separation of resources between UGC-funded
and self-financing activities. The UGC Notes on Procedures stipulates that there
should not be any cross-subsidisation of UGC resources to self-financing
activities. To avoid hidden subsidy to non-UGC-funded activities, the
institutions should levy overhead charges on such activities.
According to information given by HKU to the UGC Secretariat, the operation of
the hospital in Shenzhen has all along been in compliance with the no cross-subsidisation
requirement set out in the UGC Notes on Procedures. The university has been
recovering necessary costs in respect of the portion of UGC-funded resources
consumed by these activities. HKU also contends that, using the resources so
recovered, it will correspondingly recruit more staff so that there should not
be any manpower depletion from the Faculty of Medicine in Hong Kong. Meanwhile,
HKU students can benefit from additional learning opportunities and exposure at
the hospital in Shenzhen.
The UGC is currently looking into the self-financing activities conducted
outside Hong Kong by its funded institutions, as well as the financial
relationships between the institutions proper and the subsidiaries responsible
for such financing activities. The UGC will, on a need basis, recommend to the
Government on stipulating appropriate guidelines for institutions in this
aspect. Meanwhile, the Government and UGC will follow-up with HKU on the
arrangement of deploying teaching staff to the hospital in Shenzhen, with a view
to ensuring that teaching staff in Hong Kong will continue to accord priority to
serving local students, and that the quality of medicine teaching and research
in Hong Kong will not be adversely affected.
(d) According to the current arrangement for provision of public healthcare
services by HA, Hong Kong residents who wish to receive treatment at local
public hospitals do not need any referral to receive accident and emergency
(A&E) and general out-patient services. Hong Kong residents may visit HA's A&E
departments or general out-patient clinics on their own for medical consultation
wherever necessary.
As for specialist out-patient services, while no regular mechanism has been
established for accepting referrals made by medical institutions outside Hong
Kong for Hong Kong residents to receive treatment at specialist out-patient
clinics of public hospitals in Hong Kong, specialist out-patient clinics under
HA do accept referrals made by registered medical practitioners practising in
Hong Kong. As long as a patient has obtained a referral from a registered
medical practitioner practising in Hong Kong, he/she can receive specialist
out-patient services provided by HA.
Ends/Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Issued at HKT 13:04
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