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Following is the transcript of remarks made by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-man, after meeting public doctors today (October 21):
Reporter: (on whether the Government will give extra money to the Hospital Authority (HA) for pay increase for public doctors)
Secretary for Food and Health: As the Hospital Authority is a statutory authority responsible for the provision of public medical and hospital services, it can (determine the salary level of its employees) according to its assessment, taking into consideration of various factors, for example, the need for services, the morale of healthcare workers, as well as the attractiveness of the remuneration package to retain and recruit adequate number of healthcare workers to ensure the quality of public hospital services. Under those settings, the HA can indeed determine the salary level of its employees. As the Government is now funding the HA on a one-line vote, therefore the Government will not allocate additional resources for this particular exercise. So the HA has to demonstrate that in the long run, it has the ability to sustain and absorb the recurrent expenses arising from this particular exercise.
(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)
Ends/Wednesday, October 21, 2015
Issued at HKT 18:44
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