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The following is a question by Dr the Hon Tang Siu-tong and a reply by the Secretary for Health and Welfare, Mrs Katherine Fok, in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):

Question :

With regard to the employment of medical graduates, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows :-

(a) the employment situation of medical graduates of local or Commonwealth universities who are Hong Kong residents in each of the past three years; the number of last year's medical graduates who have not yet secured houseman posts;

(b) the number of doctor vacancies in the Hospital Authority compared to the number of medical graduates in each of the past three years, and to the expected number of medical graduates in each of the next two years; and

(c) the measures that it adopts to help medical graduates secure suitable jobs in the light of the Enhanced Productivity Programme implemented by the Hospital Authority?

Reply :

Madam President,

(a) The respective numbers of local and non-local medical graduates registered with the Medical Council, and the respective numbers of medical graduate, who have just completed their internship training and employed by the Hospital Authority (HA) and the Department of Health (DH) in the past three years are set out in Table 1 for Members' reference. We have no information on the employment situation of those who are not employed by HA or DH.

According to the information provided by HA, the medical schools of the two universities will make arrangements for all local medical graduates to work as interns in HA hospitals, in order to enable them to fulfil the registration requirements of the Medical Council. In the past three years, there were no local medical graduates who failed to secure an internship post. For medical students who graduate abroad, we do not have information on whether they have all secured internship posts, but they usually complete their internship training in where they study.

(b) The number of doctor vacancies in HA and the number of local medical graduates registered with the Medical Council in the past three years and the expected numbers in the next two years are set out in Table 2. We have also provided the number of doctor vacancies in DH for Members' reference.

Each year, apart from HA and DH, the two universities also offer research and teaching jobs to medical graduates who have just completed their internship training. Moreover, some of these graduates will choose to work in private medical institutions or enter private practice.

(c) HA has pledged to implement the Enhanced Productivity Programme, with a view to improving the productivity and efficiency in delivery of services. By taking into account the needs of the community as a whole, the resources thus saved will be reallocated by Government for provision of new services and improvement of existing services, and health care services are always one of the Government's key service areas.

In the coming few years, Government will continue to provide resources to HA for the commissioning of new hospitals and new beds. For example, in 1999-2000, HA will provide an additional 853 beds and create about 180 doctor posts. Moreover, HA expects to employ another 120 doctors to fill the vacancies arising from wastage. DH also estimates that the department will employ about 50 doctors due to wastage and provision of new services.

Job opportunities for medical graduates are not confined to public medical institutions. About 40% of the some 8,400 registered doctors in Hong Kong are working in private medical institutions or having private practice.

The Health and Welfare Bureau is currently reviewing the supply for and demand of doctors, and one of the issues to be studied is whether there is over-supply of doctors in the long run. We will discuss the review results with the Education and Manpower Bureau and the medical schools of the two universities.

END/Wednesday, February 10, 1999

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