Govt To Relax Rules For Admitting Overseas Doctors

The government on Thursday proposed new arrangements to allow Hong Kong permanent residents who are working as doctors overseas to come back and practise in the SAR.

The Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that the government will table a proposal to change the law to facilitate the return of doctors abroad, to help alleviate a shortage in the territory's public hospitals.

She said those given the right to work in Hong Kong must have graduated from recognised medical schools overseas and be qualified to practise.

"We believe a certain number of Hong Kong students attending medical schools in the UK, US and Australia would like to come back to work... there are fresh graduates, specialists and even top-notch doctors. I appeal to doctors in both the private and public sectors to support the proposal," Lam said.

"Doctors currently working in public hospitals can see their workload reduced if we have a few hundred more doctors suddenly."

Lam added that doctors returning from overseas would be required to work at public hospitals for a relatively long period of time before being given full registration.

She said overseas doctors could help tackle a shortage of more than 600 doctors at public hospitals in Hong Kong.

She noted that there is also a 40 percent vacancy rate in a branch of the Department of Health that helps young children with special needs, saying the situation is "undesirable".