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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, in the Legislative Council today (April 13):
Question:
According to the Medical Registration Ordinance (Cap. 161), except medical graduates of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, all persons who wish to register as medical practitioners (i.e. doctors) in Hong Kong are required to pass the Licensing Examination administered by the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) and complete the internship assessment in Hong Kong. All along, there have been views that due to the excessively high threshold of the Licensing Examination, over the years only a small number of non-local doctors have passed the Licensing Examination and registered as medical practitioners. As a result, the problem of shortage in doctors in Hong Kong cannot be alleviated. On March 2 this year, the Government introduced the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 into this Council, and some of the proposals in the Bill aim at facilitating the admission of non-locally trained doctors, in particular specialists, to practise in Hong Kong. However, there are comments that MCHK needs to further relax the restrictions on the registration and practice of non-locally trained doctors in Hong Kong. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) of the respective numbers of candidates sitting and passing the Licensing Examination in the past five years, broken down by the countries/territories where the candidates received their medical training and by the three parts of the Licensing Examination (i.e. Examination in Professional Knowledge, Proficiency Test in Medical English and Clinical Examination);
(2) of the number of local medical graduates and the number of doctors whom the Hospital Authority (HA) intends to recruit, in the next five years; whether it knows HA's manpower plans and objectives for doctors; and
(3) whether the strategic review on healthcare manpower planning and professional development currently conducted by the Government covers the review of the restrictions on the registration and practice of non-locally trained doctors in Hong Kong; if it does, of the direction, contents and timetable of the relevant review; if not, whether it will conduct such a review?
Reply:
President,
In response to the challenges of an ageing population and increasing demand for and higher expectations of healthcare services, the Government has set up a steering committee to conduct a strategic review on healthcare manpower planning and professional development in Hong Kong (the Review). The Review aims to formulate recommendations that would better enable our society to meet the projected demand for healthcare manpower and foster professional development, with a view to ensuring the healthy and sustainable development of our healthcare system. We expect that the Review will be completed in mid-2016.
In response to the mounting public concerns over the efficiency of the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) in complaint investigation and disciplinary inquiries, as well as the lack of flexibility in the arrangements for non-locally trained doctors to practise in Hong Kong, pending the completion of the Review report and in advance of the full implementation of its recommendations, the Government introduced the Medical Registration (Amendment) Bill 2016 into the Legislative Council in March 2016, aiming to:
(a) increase lay participation in MCHK, with a view to enhancing its accountability and public participation;
(b) improve the complaint investigation and disciplinary inquiry mechanism of MCHK; and
(c) facilitate non-locally trained doctors in Hong Kong to practise in Hong Kong through limited registration.
My reply to the three parts of the question raised by the Hon Leung Yiu-chung is as follows:
(1) According to the Medical Registration Ordinance, except medical graduates of the University of Hong Kong and the Chinese University of Hong Kong, all persons who wish to register as medical practitioners with full registration in Hong Kong, regardless of whether they have obtained qualifications to practise as a medical practitioner outside Hong Kong, are required to sit the Licensing Examination of MCHK and complete the internship assessment in Hong Kong.
The number of candidates who sat and passed the Licensing Examination in the past five years (2011 to 2015) by regions where they acquired medical qualifications is set out in Annex 1.
(2) The Government does not have the number of local medical graduates in the coming five years (2016 to 2020). Generally speaking, the local medical students graduating in the coming five years are those admitted in the respective academic years from 2011/12 to 2014/15. The number of approved medical places funded by the University Grants Committee in these academic years is set out in Annex 2.
The Hospital Authority (HA) assesses the manpower situation of doctors annually in the light of factors such as the estimated staff turnover, market supply, manpower requirement for new services and financial position, so as to estimate the annual manpower resources requirement. HA plans to recruit about 420 doctors in 2016-17.
(3) The review by the Steering Committee on Healthcare Manpower Planning and Professional Development covers, among others, the arrangements for non-locally trained doctors to practise in Hong Kong, in particular the arrangements for practice through limited registration.
Non-locally trained medical graduates may become registered medical practitioners with full registration through the Licensing Examination of MCHK. Separately, specified institutions (including the Director of Health, HA and the two medical schools) may also apply to MCHK on behalf of non-locally trained medical practitioners with proven experience and knowledge for limited registration for the purpose of teaching, conducting research or performing clinical work for the institutions.
Given that applications for limited registration are to be approved by MCHK and the registration is valid for only one year subject to annual renewal by MCHK, the number of non-locally trained doctors currently employed under limited registration is limited. The current mechanism is thus not effective in attracting non-locally trained medical professionals to practise in Hong Kong.
To facilitate non-locally trained doctors to practise in Hong Kong through limited registration the Government proposes to amend the Medical Registration Ordinance by extending the maximum term of limited registration from not exceeding one year to not exceeding three years. The purpose of this amendment is to improve the existing arrangements for limited registration, so as to facilitate non-locally trained doctors (especially those originally from Hong Kong) to work in and stay on in Hong Kong. Applications for limited registration will still be subject to MCHK's approval. There is no relaxation of the requirements for practising in Hong Kong.
Ends/Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Issued at HKT 18:35
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