Press Releases

Primary care doctors as gatekeeper: UK expert

A health care expert from the United Kingdom today (September 14) concurred with Hong Kong health officials' view that primary care doctors should play a positive gate-keeping role in the health care system.

The visiting expert, Professor Julian Le Grand, Richard Titmuss Professor of Social Policy of the London School of Economics, met with the Permanent Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food, Mrs Carrie Yau, today to share his UK experience on health care reform.

As the Health Policy Adviser to the British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, in the past two years, Professor Le Grand said primary care physicians in the UK have effectively performed the dual roles as deliverer of primary care and gatekeeper for secondary care.

Speaking after the meeting, Mrs Yau said: "There are indeed valuable lessons Hong Kong can learn from the UK experience.

"While every place has its own characteristics and we cannot transplant systems directly, the UK experience has indicated that there is much scope for further developing the role of primary care physicians (family doctors) as gatekeepers, just as we proposed in our discussion paper ' Building a Healthy Tomorrow'."




Ends/Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:37

NNNN

(Photo)