PRESS RELEASE

4 January 2001

Hong Kong Academy of Medicine

Response on Health Care Reform

The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine is a statutory body for safeguarding and vetting specialist standards for Hong Kong. Whilst we support the need for a health care reform and a new health care policy, we are of utmost concern over the possible impacts of the Government’s health care reform proposals towards the standards of our healthcare service and medical practice.

Summarised below are the Council of the Academy’s initial position on the Government’s Consultation Document. Details of these initial views are attached in the Appendix.

Based on this initial position, the Council of the Academy is to collect the views of its Fellows and members of the profession, so as to formulate a more collective view of the profession in general, as well as to stimulate the public to respond to the consultation.

Summary of What We Propose:-

On Specialist Training
  • There should be a policy on the funding to improve standard of the whole spectrum of medical care and not just of Primary Medical Care.
  • Utilisation and placement of trainees in the private sector for training purpose. Funds must also be available.
  • A defined role for the Academy and its Colleges in coordinating training and matching training with service provision in the HA.
  • Better coordination between the Academy and the Government, HA and the universities so as to strike a proper balance in the training of “general” specialists and “supra-specialists”, as well as to address the possible problem of inadequate clinical cases for training purpose versus too many trainees in some specialities.

On Quality Assurance

  • The role of the Academy, as a statutory body in Quality Assurance in medical standard and practice, must be recognised and assured.
  • Medical and Dental Councils should move to compulsory Continuing Medical Education (CME) for registration of medical and dental practitioners once the CME programmes are well organised.
  • The Academy to be empowered to coordinate CME programmes also for non-specialists.

On Private/ Public Interface

To address the ever unsolved problem of a better private/ public interface, Government should come forward with the role of heavily subsidised public health care – for what and for whom?

On Traditional Chinese Medicine

Funding for future public TCM service should not come from existing budget for public sector, as this will further cut down money for an already over-stretched service, thus denigrating standards.

On Dental Care

We are disappointed in the complete lack of new initiative in the Consultation Document. With little facilities for provision of specialist training in the public sector, standard will not improve.

Government should consider providing dental care for more selected population at least for training purpose.

On Complaint Handling Mechanism

  • We agree in principle of the setting up of a Complaint Office in so far as it acts to investigate areas relating to patient care, assist complainant and mediate between complainant and complainee.

Yet, it must not duplicate the functions of the relevant professional councils, and professional autonomy must not be denigrated. In short, the ultimate enquiry and disciplinary powers must lie in the relevant professional councils.

  • Assure the Medical and Dental Councils to be user-friendly.
  • Improve transparency of the Medical and Dental Councils by adding more “lay members”.
  • As a statutory body to vet medical standards, the Academy should have more input in the Medical and Dental Councils by increasing the number of Academy representatives in these councils.
  • Government must work with the profession to enhance relation between patients and service providers to prevent emergence of “over-demanding patients” and consequential “defensive medical practice”.

On Financing Options

  • Government should define the role of heavily subsidised Public Health Care.
  • Those outside the “ambit” will be made to realise that they have to pay for medical service, be it in private or public institutions.
  • Government should have concrete measures to encourage the public to take up private medical insurance, or do their own savings, or others.
  • Any workable financing option must re-balance the current gross imbalance in service demand between the public and private sectors.

(For enquiries, please contact Mr Elmer Wan on 2871 8811 or Ms Denise Wong on 2524 9596 / 9493 2266.)

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