Replies to LegCo questions
LC15: Practice of medical practitioners with limited registration
Following is a question by the Hon Li Fung-ying and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (October 19):
Question :
According to existing legislation, the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) may
exercise discretion to approve the registration of persons who possess only
qualifications for practising medicine outside Hong Kong as medical
practitioners with limited registration, subject to specified restrictions and
conditions. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(a) of the number of such medical practitioners, classified by job nature (such
as treating patients, teaching, scientific researches, etc);
(b) whether it knows if MCHK has put in place any mechanism for monitoring the
practice of such medical practitioners, such as conducting inspections; if it
has, of the details of the mechanism and the number of inspections conducted in
the past two years, and how breaches were followed up by MCHK;
(c) whether it knows the respective numbers of complaints received by MCHK
against such medical practitioners in each of the past two years, and the
subjects of these complaints as well as the follow-up actions taken by MCHK; and
(d) whether it has assessed the impact of medical practitioners with limited
registration on the practice of registered medical practitioners; if it has, of
the assessment results; if not, the reasons for that?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) As at October 1, 2005, there were a total of 88 medical practitioners who
possess qualifications outside Hong Kong acceptable to the Medical Council of
Hong Kong (the Council) under Section 14A of the Medical Registration Ordinance
(MRO). The nature of their practice varies: they may teach, conduct research,
perform hospital work and such practices are not mutually exclusive; we
therefore have difficulty in classifying them by job nature.
(b) These medical practitioners with limited registration are subject to
practice conditions set out in the MRO as appropriate, as well as the relevant
provisions in the Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered
Medical Practitioners drawn up by the Council. Their nature and place of
practice are also confined to what is set out in the Certificate of Employment
as completed by their employers. In the case of the above 88 practitioners, they
are employed by the Department of Health (2), the Hospital Authority (3),
University of Hong Kong (30) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (53). The
Certificate is also required for renewal of registration.
As in the case of medical practitioners granted with full registration, the
Council does not practically inspect those with limited registration to confirm
their compliance with practice conditions. Information or complaint received
indicating that there is unprofessional conduct or non-compliance with the
approved type and place of practice is handled by the Council in accordance with
the established complaint handling mechanism. Such information/complaint will
also be taken into account by the Council in deciding whether or not a
registration should be approved or renewed.
(c) No complaint was received in 2004 in relation to this group of medical
practitioners under limited registration. One complaint, relating to
dissemination of false information, has been received this year and is being
handled by the Council.
(d) We consider that given the confined and supervised nature of the practice of
these medical practitioners with limited registration, the impact of their
practice on registered medical practitioners should be minimal. No formal study
has therefore been conducted in this regard.
Ends/Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Issued at HKT 13:02
NNNN