Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan has provided an update on the recent recruitment of non-locally trained doctors to address the manpower shortage in Hong Kong’s public healthcare system. He revealed that more than 130 job offers had been extended to such doctors, and over 80 had already signed contracts to join the healthcare workforce in the region.
Fan highlighted that the majority of these recruited doctors were at a junior level, underscoring the challenges in attracting highly experienced professionals due to their established careers abroad. While the recruitment efforts primarily focused on candidates from Britain and Australia, some doctors hailed from countries like Malaysia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, and Ireland.
Nine of the newly recruited doctors arrived in Hong Kong in September and had already commenced their duties, while another 10 were expected to assume their roles within the next one to two months. Fan expressed some regret over the inability to hire individuals with extensive professional achievements, explaining that most of the recruited doctors would serve as resident doctors, with only a few potentially reaching the level of associate consultant.
Notably, many of the recruited healthcare professionals were Hong Kong residents who had been living overseas. Despite the challenges, Fan expressed his satisfaction with the progress of recruitment and emphasized the authority’s commitment to continuing its efforts to hire more medical professionals from overseas.
Fan also shed light on an exchange program that had brought doctors, nurses, and Chinese medicine practitioners from the Greater Bay Area to work in Hong Kong’s public hospitals since April. This initiative aimed to alleviate the ongoing manpower issues. However, Fan disclosed that due to severe staff shortages, some local practitioners in Western and Chinese medicine disciplines would soon undertake training on the mainland. He acknowledged the limitations on the duration of their stay, as Hong Kong’s staff could only afford to be away for a few weeks or a few months, unlike their mainland counterparts who could spend up to a year away from their current roles.
The Hospital Authority had been exploring various sources to address the persistent manpower challenges, with the attrition rate for doctors dropping slightly from 7.1% in late April to 6.9% as of late July. A similar trend was observed among nurses, with the attrition rate decreasing from 10.9% to 10.3% during the same period. Despite these improvements, Fan remained cautious, acknowledging that new healthcare professionals often joined in July when graduates completed their university studies. He expressed hope that retirees returning to public hospitals under a specific scheme would be able to share their experience with younger professionals.
In the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24, a significant proportion of doctors reaching retirement age, 84%, would choose to continue their service in public hospitals. For nurses, the figure stood at 53%. This could help mitigate the ongoing staff shortage issue to some extent.
On another note, Fan addressed concerns about a contractor named Getinge, which had been responsible for a surgical light that had fallen in United Christian Hospital in February. He confirmed that the company had been awarded three contracts following the incident but expressed reservations due to media reports about the appropriateness of these awards. Fan announced that the authority would not accept any more tender bids from Getinge until liability issues were resolved and the company provided explanations on how it planned to improve its services.
Meanwhile, the Health Bureau announced an extension of the deadline for doctors to sign up for the Primary Care Directory. The extension would provide medical practitioners with a two-month grace period beyond October 6 to join the directory, a prerequisite for participating in government-subsidized healthcare programs. Doctors who failed to enroll in the directory by December 6 would not be eligible for these programs. As of the end of August, 3,337 doctors were listed in the directory.
In summary, Chairman Henry Fan highlighted the recruitment efforts to address the manpower crunch in Hong Kong’s public healthcare system, focusing on non-locally trained doctors and exchange programs with the Greater Bay Area. While challenges persisted in attracting highly experienced professionals, the authority remained committed to bolstering its healthcare workforce. Additionally, Fan addressed concerns about a contractor and the extension of the Primary Care Directory enrollment deadline. These developments underscored ongoing efforts to address healthcare-related challenges in the region.
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