Replies to LegCo questions
LCQ14: Hospital Authority's nursing staff
Following is a question by the Dr Hon Joseph Lee and a written reply by the
Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Dr York Chow, in the Legislative Council
today (December 21):
Question:
Regarding the manpower of nursing staff of the Hospital Authority (HA), will the
Government inform this Council:
(a) of the reasons for the decrease in the number of HA's nursing staff
vis-a-vis the preceding year, and the rank distribution of the nursing staff who
departed in each of the past five years;
(b) as the number of HA's nursing staff decreased from 19,727 in 2000-01 to
19,162 in 2004-05, of the reasons for HA not having filled the vacant posts;
whether such reasons include the shortage of nurses who have received training
at Bachelor's degree level at universities, and the existing nursing staff not
having been promoted to the rank of senior nursing officer or nurse specialist
due to their inadequate training and experience;
(c) if the reasons mentioned in item (b) include the shortage of nurses who have
received training at the Bachelor's degree level, whether the Administration has
followed up with the University Grants Committee (UGC) on the outcome of the
proposed increase in the student number targets for nursing education offered by
UGC-funded institutions in the coming three years; if so, of the details; and
(d) if the reasons mentioned in item (b) include the existing nursing staff not
having been promoted, whether HA will allocate additional resources to provide
training for the staff concerned?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The decrease in the number of nursing staff in public hospitals over the
past five years (i.e. from 2000-01 to 2004-05) could be attributed mainly to the
upgrade of nursing education to degree level in recent years, which lowered the
number of student nurses in public hospitals from 1,497 in 2000-01 to 271 in
2004-05. Another major reason was the introduction of the Voluntary Retirement
Scheme by the Administration and the Voluntary Early Retirement Programme by the
Hospital Authority (HA) in 2003-04, which had led to more nurses departing over
the past two years. The upturn of private medical services in recent years has
also attracted some nurses in public hospitals to switch for jobs in private
hospitals or residential care homes for the elderly. A breakdown by rank of the
nurses who departed the HA over the past five years is given in the Table.
While there has been a decrease in the total number of nursing staff in public
hospitals over the past five years, it is worth noting that the number of
qualified nurses has actually gone up within the same time period from 18,230 in
2000-01 to 18,891 in 2004-05.
(b) The HA has all along been filling nursing vacancies in public hospitals
through open recruitment over the past five years. During that period, the total
number of nurses recruited was 3,451. As regards the posts at Nursing Officer
rank or above (including nurse specialist posts), the HA has been filling the
relevant vacancies with suitable candidates chosen from serving staff through
internal promotion. The number of nursing staff promoted within the past five
years was 446.
In addition, HA has continued to recruit additional health care service
assistants in recent years to perform simple patient care duties, which do not
require professional nursing knowledge, in hospital wards, so as to alleviate
the workload of frontline nursing staff. This also serves to provide relief for
the strain on nursing manpower at public hospitals. Over the past five years,
the number of healthcare service assistants in public hospitals has increased
from 5,901 in 2000-01 to 6,888 in 2004-05.
(c) The Administration's aim in upgrading basic nursing education to degree
level is to enhance the quality of nursing services in Hong Kong. To achieve
this aim, the Administration has already requested the University Grants
Committee (UGC) to progressively increase the number of places in degree level
nursing programmes, in order to ensure that there will be sufficient nursing
graduates to meet the demand on the nursing profession. In the 2004-05 academic
year, 450 first-year-first-degree (FYFD) places in nursing (in full-time
equivalent terms) are provided in UGC-funded institutions. The number of such
places will further increase to 518 in the 2005-06 to 2007-08 triennium. In
addition, to provide articulation opportunities for nursing sub-degree holders,
the UGC also funds an additional 30 senior year places (in full-time equivalent)
beginning in the 2005-06 academic year. The Administration will continue to
assess the long-term demand for nurses on a regular basis. If there is such a
need, we will recommend the UGC to increase the number of places in degree level
nursing programmes yet further in or after the 2008-09 academic year.
Apart from the degree nursing programmes funded by UGC, in recent years some
tertiary institutions are planning to run their own degree-level nursing
programmes. For example, the Open University of Hong Kong has already introduced
two four-year degree programmes with a total of 80 places this September.
(d) The HA has put in place a comprehensive framework for continuing nursing
education and provide on-the-job training to nursing and other staff through the
Hospital Authority Institute of Health Care and the Institute of Advanced
Nursing Studies. Courses offered include a specialist nursing programme and a
professional competence enhancement programme. In order to ensure the quality of
service and supervision, the HA has made particular efforts in providing the
more senior nursing staff with leadership and management training. In recent
recruitment exercises conducted by the HA for posts at the Nursing Officer rank
or above, there have been sufficient numbers of qualified nurses applying for
the relevant vacancies, with no signs of inadequate supply.
Ends/Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Issued at HKT 12:55
NNNN
Table on LCQ14