Medical Council Removes Hurdle For Foreign Doctors

The Medical Council on Wednesday passed a motion to make it easier for overseas specialists to work in Hong Kong, in a bid to tackle a shortage of doctors at public hospitals.

Under the proposal, overseas specialists can get a full licence as long as they’ve worked in the public sector or medical schools for three years, and passed a licensing exam.

A requirement for them to complete an internship will be removed.

The issue has proved controversial, with lawmakers from both sides of the political divide seeking to wrest control from the Medical Council, after it last month rejected all options to make it easier for foreign doctors to work in the SAR despite a staffing crisis in public hospitals.

The Hospital Authority has warned that it's having increasing difficulty filling some doctors' positions in public hospitals, and the Medical Council has been accused of protecting its own turf.

Ho Pak-leung, one of the council members, said the atmosphere during the meeting was good and everyone had a chance to discuss the motions on the table.

The Health Secretary, Sophia Chan, welcomed the council's decision, saying it was more lenient, fair and non-discriminatory, and expressed optimism that it would achieve its aim.

"We hope ... this proposal would be able to attract more non-locally trained overseas doctors to come back to work in Hong Kong so as to alleviate the workload of our doctor working in the public health care system," Chan said.

However, the move still fell short of what some lawmakers had sought.

DAB legislator Ann Chiang said the proposal isn't attractive enough - unless they scrap the requirement to sit a licensing exam, adding that she'll keep pushing for a private member's bill that would allow foreign doctors to practise in Hong Kong if they work in a public hospital for five years.

Democratic Party lawmaker Helena Wong also wanted the Medical Council to remove the exam requirement - and warned that otherwise her party will seek to amend the law.

Last updated: 2019-05-08 HKT 21:46