Replies to LegCo questions

LCQ17: Monitoring operation of medical centres

Following is a question by the Dr Hon Kwok Ka-ki and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Transport and Works, Dr Sarah Liao (in the absence of the Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food), in the Legislative Council today (January 18):

Question:

Early last month, some medical centres operating as a conglomerate were discovered to have administered unregistered influenza vaccine injections on several hundred residents. The incident has aroused public concern about the monitoring of such medical centres. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the means through which the Government monitors the establishment and operation of medical centres, and whether it has issued guidelines in this respect;

(b) of the number of complaints about the services provided by such medical centres received respectively by the Department of Health, the Medical Council of Hong Kong and the Consumer Council in each of the past three years, with a breakdown by subject of complaints; and

(c) whether it plans to step up monitoring, through legislation or other means, of the operation of medical centres, such as stipulating that pharmaceuticals shall be procured under the supervision of doctors or pharmacists?

Reply:

Madam President,

(a) The provision of medical services, through any organisations or business modes, is primarily a professional relationship between medical practitioners and their patients. Medical practitioners are under an absolute professional obligation to ensure that their medical services are up to the professional standards stipulated by the Medical Council of Hong Kong (the Medical Council). The Medical Council is a statutory regulatory body established under the Medical Registration Ordinance to maintain the professional standards of medical practitioners. In this connection, the Medical Council has issued a Professional Code and Conduct for the Guidance of Registered Medical Practitioners to ensure medical practitioners' compliance with appropriate procedures and standards of medical treatment in the provision of medical services for the interests of patients. The Medical Council has also established an effective mechanism to handle professional misconduct cases involving medical practitioners whereby appropriate disciplinary sanctions are imposed according to the seriousness of the cases. In the regulation of medical services, our foremost objective is to safeguard patients' health and interests. This objective is effectively achieved under the current system administered by the Medical Council to regulate the professional standards of medical practitioners. Against this background, we have not imposed any regulation specific to medical service provision in medical centres nor issued any guidelines in this respect.

(b) Upon receipt of complaints against medical practitioners, the Department of Health will refer them to the Medical Council for necessary action regardless of the kind of organisation in which the medical practitioners under complaint practise.

The number of complaints about medical practitioners received by the Medical Council in the past three years is shown in Annex 1.

The Medical Council does not have a breakdown of the number of complaints by the mode of practice.

The number of complaints received by the Consumer Council about the services provided by medical centres in the past three years is shown in Annex 2.

A breakdown of the number of complaints by their nature is shown in Annex 3.

(c) It is medical practitioners who are responsible for providing medical services and prescribing medicines for patients, irrespective of whether or not they are practising in a medical centre setting. Medical practitioners are under an obligation to ensure that their services meet the professional standards stipulated by the Medical Council. They must ensure that the drugs they prescribe are registered and suitable for patients' use.

Furthermore, under the current Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, the procurement, usage and dispensing of prescribed drugs, whether by medical practitioners in private practice or by medical centres, must be under the supervision of a registered medical practitioner.

In our view, any regulation of medical services should be geared towards the standards of medical services that are acceptable to the general public. To safeguard public health, these standards should be the same across the board regardless of the mode of service provision. At present, the Administration has no plan to introduce regulation specifically for the medical centres as a business mode.


Ends/Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Issued at HKT 12:48

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Annexes to LCQ17