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
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