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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (November 29):
Question:
Regarding the boards and councils responsible for the registration of health care professionals, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) given that 14 out of the 15 current members of the Nursing Council of Hong Kong (NCHK) were appointed by the Chief Executive, whether the Government has any plans to allow members of the profession to elect their own representatives on NCHK; if it has, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and
(b) whether it has any plans to review the composition of the boards and councils responsible for the registration of other health care professionals, to allow members of the professions to take up the chairmanships of the respective boards and councils, or increase the ratio of members from the professions on these boards and councils so as to achieve professional autonomy; if it has, of the details, if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) Among the 15 members of the Nursing Council of Hong Kong (NCHK), 3 are lay members while the remaining 12 are members of the profession. Save for 1 ex-officio member in the NCHK, the other 14 members are appointed by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food under the delegated authority of the Chief Executive.
Currently, members of the NCHK include nurses of various backgrounds, such as those from the general stream, psychiatric stream, public service, public hospitals as well as the academia. This arrangement ensures that views from different sectors in the profession could be brought into the NCHK. The Administration strives to observe the principle of balanced participation when appointing members of the NCHK. As for the question of whether some of the members of the NCHK would be returned by election among the members of the profession, we need to seek the views of the profession as implementation of election will involve amendment to the relevant legislation and require additional resources and administrative support, which may have a bearing on the relevant professional fees.
(b) In the regulation of various health care professions, the Administration subscribes to the principle of professional autonomy. All the boards and councils responsible for the regulation of health care professionals are independent statutory bodies and the Administration respects the decisions that are made within the autonomy of the professions.
Under the principle of professional autonomy along with a fair degree of lay participation, a board or council for the regulation of a health care profession should be composed of members of the respective profession and other related sectors together with lay members. The chairmanship is normally assumed by a member of the profession or from other related health care professions. In some cases, the chair is elected among the members or filled by a lay member.
The historical development, background and specific needs of different health care professions all contribute to the specific regulatory regimes and composition of their boards or councils. That said, the relevant arrangements are geared towards ensuring that stakeholders of different backgrounds in the profession may participate in the operation of the boards or councils and that lay views are fully reflected. An example can be found in the Supplementary Medical Professions Council (SMPC), which is responsible for regulating five health care professions. Established in 1981 when the five professions were still in the early stage of development, SMPC took reference from overseas experience and set up a multidisciplinary platform for these professions to draw on one another's experience in the development of their respective regulatory frameworks. Besides, the relevant legislation then also provided for the participation of members from other sectors such as the medical sector, academic sector as well as the public service in the work of SMPC so that SMPC could draw reference from other sectors' experience in their regulatory work. It is heartening to see that the professions have gradually matured over the last two decades. In future, we will actively consider appointing only members from the professions as chairpersons of the respective regulatory boards or councils. We will also listen to the views of various health care professions on their respective regulatory frameworks.
Ends/Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Issued at HKT 13:29
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