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Consultative Documents

Healthcare

We are pushing for comprehensive improvements to the quality and efficiency of public healthcare with the following proposals:

Increasing the ratio of doctors to population in the HKSAR from 1.9/1000 to 3.4/1000.

Shorten the waiting time for public specialist out-patient services.  The goal is to ensure that the median waiting time (MWT) for both urgent and semi-urgent cases to be treated between two and eight weeks and the MWT for stable new cases to be reduced to within 24 weeks.

The public healthcare system should provide comprehensive Western and Chinese medical services.  

Proposals from society 

1

Increasing the number of doctors

  • Increase the number of school places at the Faculty of Medicine at both HKU and CUHK.

  • Create a third faculty of medicine at a local university.

  • Improve remuneration packages and hire more retired doctors.

  • Reform the registration system to attract qualified overseas doctors.

  • Allow qualified overseas doctors graduating from renowned medical faculties to work at public hospitals in the HKSAR as registered medical practitioners without sitting for examinations.

  • Fund local medical students to study medicine abroad.

  • Stipulate that specialist graduates of any faculty of medicine must work in public hospitals for at least five years. 

  • Reduce the frequency and time spent on Hospital Authority (HA) meetings to allow management-level doctors to work on the frontline.

  • Purchase private healthcare services en mass to offset the personnel shortfall in public healthcare.

  • Comprehensively review the positioning of private healthcare.

2

Improving the efficiency of public health administration

  • Increasing the transparency of internal audits for the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Department of Health (DoH)

  • Have the Audit Commission comprehensively review the efficiency of both the HA and the DoH

  • Review and rework the resource allocation for various hospital clusters.

3

Improving Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) services and the development of the industry

TCM services

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  • Provide comprehensive public TCM outpatient and inpatient services

  • Set up specialised positions at the HA and DoH to promote the development of the TCM services and industry

  • Provide public evening outpatient TCM services

  • Establish a pay scale to improve the Remuneration packages for public TCM practitioners

TCM industry

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  • Review the “Chinese Medicine Ordinance (CMO)” and loosen restrictions in the CMO to encourage the long-term growth of the TCM industry.

  • Establish a “TCM ingredient safety certificate” system

  • Allow the TCM industry to make simple modifications to medicinal formulas per safety requirements.

  • Establish a professional certification and registration system for TCM pharmacists.

  • Amend the Undesirable Medical Advertisements Ordinance. Bring foods that contain TCM ingredients  under the supervision of the Ordinance.

DAB proposals for further discussion

Create a third faculty of medicine and provide 240-260 new undergraduate medical positions each year to train large numbers of homegrown doctors. 

Reform the “Medical Registration Ordinance” as well as the registration system for doctors, by exempting foreign doctors who have completed five years of satisfactory work for the Hospital Authority (HA) from sitting the registration exam. The aim is to help attract qualified doctors from overseas to work in Hong Kong.  

Increase the transparency of internal audits for the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Department of Health (DoH). Suggested methods include putting their internal audits up for scrutiny and debate by Legco. Have Legislative Councilors represent the public by monitoring the effectiveness of HA and DoH administration. 

We urge the government to clearly define the positioning of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) services in the public healthcare system of the HKSAR through measures such as providing funding for the provision of comprehensive public TCM outpatient services. Construct official TCM hospitals to provide TCM and combined Chinese-Western medicinal hospital in-patient services.  

The government should promptly review the “Chinese Medicine Ordinance and break down barriers to the long-term development of the TCM industry.   

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