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Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (June 13):
Question:
According to a document issued by the Government to Legislative Council Members on May 15 this year, the starting salaries for certain grades in the civil service would be raised by one to five points. As the salary structure of the staff in the Hospital Authority (HA) has been delinked from the pay scales of the civil service, the Government, therefore, has not undertaken to raise the starting salary of HA doctors accordingly. In 2000, due to a fiscal deficit in the Government, HA lowered the starting salary of doctors by five points, and their maximum pay points by eight points, both of which have not yet returned to the pre-2000 level. Earlier, a group of representatives for front-line doctors openly demanded that the HA raise the starting salary and maximum pay by five and eight points respectively to boost the persistently low morale and retain the talents among its doctors. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council whether it will allocate additional resources to HA so that it can raise the salaries of its doctors, thus bringing their salaries in line with those of the corresponding grades in the civil service?
Reply:
Madam President,
In 2000, the Government followed the findings of the 1999 Civil Service Starting Salaries Survey (SSS) and adjusted downwards the starting salaries for entry ranks of certain civil service grades. With reference to the findings of the 1999 SSS, the Hospital Authority (HA) lowered the starting salaries for its entry ranks in 2000, including adjusting downwards the starting salary for the entry rank of the medical grade by five pay points. On the other hand, the HA has over the years implemented various reforms on staff's remuneration structures, amongst which the 2000 Medical Grade Reform has put in place a new Resident pay scale to cater for the arrangement of specialist training for Residents.
The Government has recently decided to follow the findings of the 2006 SSS to adjust upwards the starting salaries of certain civil service grades. As for the staff of subvented organizations, including the staff HA, since their salary structures have been delinked from the civil service pay scales, it is up to these organizations to decide whether or not to follow the starting salaries for the civil service and adjust their staff's salaries. Regarding the subvention provided by the Government to the subvented organisations, if the subventions had been reduced in connection with the downward revision of starting salaries for the civil service in 2000, the Government will adjust their subventions in the context of the present exercise of adjustment of starting salaries for the civil service. The additional subvention allocated to these organisations will be determined by the terms of individual subvention agreements, the amount of reductions made in 2000 as a result of the adjustment of starting salaries in that year, etc. We are now discussing with departments concerned and the HA on the subvention, with a view to determining the detailed arrangements on the adjustment of subvention to the HA.
The HA has all along been paying close attention to the overall remuneration structure and professional development of the medical grade, including its pay scale. The HA will continue to communicate proactively with its staff and implement measures to further improve the working hours, remuneration package and promotion prospects of the medical grade staff, with a view to addressing the concerns of frontline doctors on issues related to their career prospects, job security and workload, etc.
Ends/Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Issued at HKT 14:20
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