Call For More Oversight On Non-local Nurses

"); jQuery("#212 h3").html("

Related News Programmes

"); });

2023-03-18 HKT 12:03

Share this story

facebook

  • Call for more oversight on non-local nurses

A patients rights advocate on Saturday said more needs to be done to ensure the quality of outside nurses, and to make sure they don't leave the public healthcare sector after serving for just a year.

Alex Lam from Hong Kong Patients' Voices was commenting on a proposed pathway to allow non-locally-trained nurses from overseas and mainland institutions to practise in Hong Kong without taking a licensing exam.

The pathway was outlined in a Health Bureau paper to Legco this month as a possible solution to the city's nursing shortage. Currently, non-locally-trained nurses must pass a licensing exam run by the Nursing Council of Hong Kong to work here.

Lam said the new pathway would put an additional strain on the council to make sure the nurses are up to standard.

"We have to make sure that they have sufficient academic or on-the-job training before coming to Hong Kong, so the Nursing Council might have a burden to make sure that those recruited from overseas would have the required standard comparable to the standard we have in Hong Kong," he told reporters after attending a radio programme.

He also suggested lengthening the minimum time spent in the public sector to three years from the proposed one.

"Work experience under supervision in the public sector is very important. While we pay them to work in the hospitals, we have to understand whether they are fit for the job, whether they are safe for the patients. I would suggest at least three years," Lam said.

Speaking on the same programme, lawmaker Rebecca Chan called on the government to do more to retain local nurses, such as hiring more nursing assistants to ease their workload.

The government has said the length of time needed to train local nurses means the current shortage cannot simply be addressed by increasing local manpower.

RECENT NEWS

Eric Trump To Speak At Bitcoin Asia 2025 In Hong Kong

Eric Trump, the second son of US president Donald Trump, is set to speak at the upcoming Bitcoin Asia 2025 conference i... Read more

Hong Kong Digital Banking Survey Reveals User Concerns And Growth Potential

ECHO ASIA, partnering with students from Global Business Studies, CUHK Business School, announced the release of the H... Read more

InvestHK Attracts HK$160 Billion In 2025, With Fintech As Top Sector

Invest Hong Kong (InvestHK) announced on 7 July 2025 that it supported over 1,300 overseas and Mainland companies in se... Read more

ZhongAn Online Completes US$500M H Share Placement To Fuel Core Insurance Growth

ZhongAn Online P & C Insurance Co., Ltd (Zhong An, HKEX:6060) announced the completion of its H share placement on ... Read more

Beyond KYC: How Technology Is Transforming The Fraud Prevention Game

Digital wallets and cryptocurrencies are two of the most targeted channels for fraud this year, according to SEON’s 2... Read more

2025 Hong Kong Fintech Report: What You Need To Know

Hong Kong is hitting the gas when it comes to fintech innovation, regulation and adoption. From the passage of the Stab... Read more