MR CHAN KIN-POR (in Cantonese): Deputy President, the difficulty in getting medical treatment in Hong Kong has been a major problem in society. There are always long queues at public hospitals, leaving patients miserable. Even if they can see a doctor, they only have a very short consultation and so there is no way they can receive in-depth treatment. New cases for specialist outpatient services often have to wait for one to two years, and frontline doctors are even rushed off their feet. There is a consensus that Hong Kong faces a shortage of doctors, which is also supported by clear statistics.
Since Mr Tommy CHEUNG has already talked about many issues relating to the ratio just now, I am not going to repeat them. In a nutshell, the ratio of doctors in Hong Kong is very low. To catch up with the level in Singapore or South Korea, a shortfall of at least 3 000 to 4 000 doctors will have to be met. In the future, there will be an even greater healthcare demand in Hong Kong. According to the statistics of the Census and Statistics Department, the population aged 65 and above will grow from 1.16 million in 2016 to 2.37 million in 2036, leading to a drastic increase in the healthcare demand. On the other hand, the Government has earmarked HK$300 billion for the second 10-year Hospital Development Plan to construct more hospitals, including redeveloping the Queen Mary Hospital and the Tuen Mun Hospital, constructing a new hospital at the current site of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, and expanding the North Lantau Hospital, and it is estimated that an addition of 4 000 beds will be provided. However, even if new beds are available, they will be useless if there are insufficient doctors. Therefore, judging from various perspectives, Hong Kong is really in dire need of more doctors.
Although the Government has stepped up the training of doctors by offering 500 places for medical students each year, the Hospital Authority (“HA”) is losing nearly 400 doctors each year, most of whom have switched to the private healthcare system. This, coupled with the fact that doctors will retire, the supply of doctors is still unable to meet the healthcare demand. Besides, those medical graduates need to undergo a long period of training and accumulate sufficient experience to be able to work independently. Therefore, even if they can fill the vacancies of departed doctors in terms of quantity, they are, in practice, unlikely to replace experienced doctors in terms of quality.
Last year, the Medical Council of Hong Kong (“MCHK”) discussed the proposal to exempt the internship arrangement of overseas specialists. Despite a barrage of criticisms in society, only a very conservative proposal was passed eventually, that is, overseas doctors may obtain full registration as long as they have worked in HA, the Department of Health or medical schools of universities under limited registration for three years and have passed the Licensing Examination. This proposal basically holds little appeal. It is indeed quite absurd to require an overseas specialist not only to work in public hospitals for three years but also to pass the Licensing Examination. This is because, despite having worked for three years already, he is asked to take a step backward and sit for the Licensing Examination. MCHK used “professional autonomy” as a justification but in fact, it was all about professional protectionism, which is aimed at refusing to open the door for doctors to practise, so that overseas doctors will be deterred from doing so by the difficulties they face. However, I would like to remind Members that this is not just about the professional sector, but also about the well-being of all the people of Hong Kong. The well-being of the Hong Kong people is definitely more important than the interests of the sector. The medical sector cannot just care about its interests and disregard the well-being of our people. Since the medical sector emphasizes professional autonomy, it must shoulder its professional responsibilities, including ensuring that all Hong Kong people receive appropriate healthcare services. The current shortage of doctors has given rise to a lot of problems. If the medical sector fails to resolve the problems, it should listen to our views.
In fact, we can learn from many successful examples, such as the Singapore Model under which the world’s leading medical schools are included in its recognized list and their graduates are allowed to have examination-free practice in Singapore. Such a system has been implemented in Singapore for over a decade without any problem and is still in force today. Since the medical schools on the list are all of the world’s top standards, it is believed that the standards of their graduates are not inferior to those in Hong Kong. If we want to have sufficient assurance, we can also follow the practice of Singapore, that is, overseas doctors have to practise medicine under supervision in public hospitals for a certain period of time before they are allowed to practise privately. This can assure that nothing will go wrong. Some people say that this suggestion is tantamount to leaving the door wide open. Nevertheless, Singapore has proved that this system can be expanded or tightened. Last year, the Ministry of Health of Singapore announced that due to an increase in the number of local medical graduates, it decided to have the list of recognized schools narrowed down drastically from the originally recognized 158 medical schools to 100. This shows that the recognized list is in the hands of the Singaporean Government and can be expanded or shortened when necessary. There is no question of the extension being unretractable.
Not only do we need to recruit overseas doctors, but also have to offer excellent conditions of service. As a matter of fact, it is by no means easy to attract overseas doctors to practise in Hong Kong. Given the huge demand for doctors all over the world, they need not worry about getting a job in their own countries, so why do they have to practise in Hong Kong? Besides, the social conflicts in Hong Kong have become rather complicated. To attract overseas doctors, we should offer generous terms and a very long-term contract, etc. I think that Hong Kong must solve the doctor shortage problem. As pointed out by the Secretary just now, Hong Kong needs outside help. I believe that in advancing this goal, the Secretary will encounter many obstacles. The Government must remain steadfast and dare to break down barriers in fighting for the well-being of the people. Thank you, President.