registration
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Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (October 19):
Question :
According to existing legislation, the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) may exercise discretion to approve the registration of persons who possess only qualifications for practising medicine outside Hong Kong as medical practitioners with limited registration, subject to specified restrictions and conditions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of such medical practitioners, classified by job nature (such as treating patients, teaching, scientific researches, etc);
(b) whether it knows if MCHK has put in place any mechanism for monitoring the practice of such medical practitioners, such as conducting inspections; if it has, of the details of the mechanism and the number of inspections conducted in the past two years, and how breaches were followed up by MCHK;
(c) whether it knows the respective numbers of complaints received by MCHK against such medical practitioners in each of the past two years, and the subjects of these complaints as well as the follow-up actions taken by MCHK; and
(d) whether it has assessed the impact of medical practitioners with limited registration on the practice of registered medical practitioners; if it has, of the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) As at October 1, 2005, there were a total of 88 medical practitioners who possess qualifications outside Hong Kong acceptable to the Medical Council of Hong Kong (the Council) under Section 14A of the Medical Registration Ordinance (MRO). The nature of their practice varies: they may teach, conduct research, perform hospital work and such practices are not mutually exclusive; we therefore have difficulty in classifying them by job nature.
(b) These medical practitioners with limited registration are subject to practice conditions set out in the MRO as appropriate, as well as the relevant provisions in the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners drawn up by the Council. Their nature and place of practice are also confined to what is set out in the Certificate of Employment as completed by their employers. In the case of the above 88 practitioners, they are employed by the Department of Health (2), the Hospital Authority (3), University of Hong Kong (30) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (53). The Certificate is also required for renewal of registration.
As in the case of medical practitioners granted with full registration, the Council does not practically inspect those with limited registration to confirm their compliance with practice conditions. Information or complaint received indicating that there is unprofessional conduct or non-compliance with the approved type and place of practice is handled by the Council in accordance with the established complaint handling mechanism. Such information/complaint will also be taken into account by the Council in deciding whether or not a registration should be approved or renewed.
(c) No complaint was received in 2004 in relation to this group of medical practitioners under limited registration. One complaint, relating to dissemination of false information, has been received this year and is being handled by the Council.
(d) We consider that given the confined and supervised nature of the practice of these medical practitioners with limited registration, the impact of their practice on registered medical practitioners should be minimal. No formal study has therefore been conducted in this regard.
Ends/Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:02
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