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Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for Food and Health, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council today (May 26):
Question:
A member of the trade has criticised that although the healthcare system in Hong Kong comprises both Chinese and Western medicines, the Government has not attached importance to the development of Chinese medicine and does not have holistic planning and comprehensive policies on promoting its development. As a result, it was not able to raise the general level of Chinese medicine, and it is difficult to attract new blood. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) whether, after establishing public Chinese medicine clinics (CMCs) in each of the 18 districts in Hong Kong, the authorities will further increase the number of CMCs, so as to meet public demand and provide Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs) with more job and training opportunities;
(b) given that public CMCs mainly provide outpatient service at present, whether the authorities will consider setting up public specialist CMCs; if they will, of the details, including the number of clinics, their locations and the specialist services to be provided, etc.; if not, the reasons for that;
(c) when it will conduct a new round of assessment of the future demand on the manpower of CMPs;
(d) given that the salaries of those CMPs working in public CMCs are currently determined by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) which operate the CMCs concerned, whether the authorities will follow the system for determining the salaries of other healthcare personnel and set a pay scale for CMPs for reference of or to be followed by the NGO operators concerned;
(e) apart from practising in local public CMCs, of the measures in place to assist local university graduates in attaching to the Chinese medicine hospitals or CMCs on the Mainland; and
(f) whether it will reconsider setting up a Chinese medicine hospital as a base for training talents in Chinese medicine and research and development of Chinese medicine; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
President,
(a) The Government has planned to establish 18 public Chinese medicine clinics (CMCs) in Hong Kong with an aim to developing "evidence-based" Chinese medicine and providing training opportunities for local Chinese medicine degree programmes graduates. Currently, 14 public CMCs have already come into operation. We are actively identifying suitable sites to set up the four remaining CMCs as early as possible. At this stage, the Government has no plan to further increase the number of public CMCs.
To increase the job and training opportunities for Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs), each public CMC is required to employ at least five graduates of Chinese medicine degree programmes as junior CMPs and to provide them with one-year training. The training programme has been further extended since 2009 by providing junior CMPs with the second and third year of training in public CMCs, thereby enhancing their job and training opportunities significantly.
(b) At present, there is no specialist registration in our CMP registration system. Patients of public CMCs can opt for different internal medicine services such as treatments for cancer, diabetes, skin, osteopathy, pain, etc according to their needs. In addition, public CMCs also provide other expert services such as acupuncture and tui-na.
(c) It is the practice of the Government to conduct assessment on the manpower requirements for healthcare professionals (including CMPs) in tandem with the triennial planning cycle of the University Grants Committee (UGC). The Government also gives advice to the UGC on the future public-funded places for reference by the tertiary institutions in making their academic planning. Such assessment is on-going.
In projecting the manpower requirements for healthcare professionals, the Government will take into account the manpower needs of major healthcare providers including the Hospital Authority (HA), Department of Health, Social Welfare Department and private healthcare institutions, etc. As for the projection of the long term manpower requirements for healthcare personnel, the Government will take note of the trend of retirement and wastage of healthcare personnel and make an assessment on the future service demand having regard to such factors as population ageing, demographic changes and the special needs of the community for particular areas of services etc. The Government will also take into account an array of factors such as the healthcare service delivery model and other related policies including healthcare reform and their implications on manpower requirements for projection of the overall manpower requirements for healthcare personnel.
(d) The day-to-day operation of public CMCs is undertaken by the non-governmental organisations (NGOs) commissioned to run the clinics. CMPs at the clinics are appointed by the NGOs concerned as their employees and the terms of appointment and salaries are determined by the NGOs concerned. The Government has not set a pay scale for CMPs. To assist NGOs in appointing CMPs, HA has issued a guide to appointment in which the entry requirements and salary range of various ranks of CMPs are set out for reference by the NGOs.
(e) In July 2009, HA provided a "Junior Scholarship in Chinese medicine" for CMPs with clinical experience of two years or more to further their study in renowned hospitals in the Mainland. They may decide which subject they will study according to the development trend and needs of Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. After completing the training, the CMPs have to return to Hong Kong to assist in the promotion of Chinese medicine services. In addition, HA has provided a "Senior Scholarship in Chinese medicine" since April 2010. Local CMPs with aspiration to promote the development of teaching and research in Chinese medicine and in possession of substantial qualification and experience will be selected to further their study in the Mainland's hospitals. They have to provide training for CMPs after returning to Hong Kong.
(f) Chinese medicine has its role in the provision of primary care in Hong Kong. As mentioned above, the Government has been actively taking forward the plan to establish public CMCs in an effort to promote the further development of Chinese medicine. For patients who need to be hospitalised or are suffering from severe illnesses, they usually seek treatment from Western medical practitioners and occasionally consult CMPs for supplementary purpose. Setting up a purely traditional Chinese medicine hospital may not provide the most comprehensive treatment to patients. At present, HA has set up integrated Chinese and western medicine wards and service units in a few hospitals.
The long-term goal of the Government in promoting the development of Chinese medicine is to develop, through an evidence-based approach, a model of collaboration between Chinese and western medical practitioners that can meet the actual circumstances and needs of Hong Kong. HA has been trying out different models of Chinese and western medicines shared care services in 20 hospitals in light of the actual needs of patients. In addition, a larger scale of Chinese and western medicines shared care services will be considered to be incorporated in the proposed Chinese medicine building under the Kwong Wah Hospital Redevelopment Project.
On the other hand, to develop our medical services, the Government has reserved four sites at Wong Chuk Hang, Tseung Kwan O, Tai Po and Lantau, and earlier invited expressions of interest from the market to develop private hospitals, which may provide traditional Chinese medicine services. The Government is open-minded about the service that may be provided in the new hospital to be developed at each site, subject to the relevant special requirements which the Government will determine for development of the sites.
Ends/Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Issued at HKT 15:51
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