Doctors angry at Link policy on clinic rents
Thousands of patients in Tin Shui Wai may be forced to change doctors following a decision by The Link Management to terminate the tenancies of two long-serving general practitioners at a district shopping centre.
The number of doctors at Chung Fu Shopping Centre will be cut from six to five under a renovation project.
The Medical Association has raised serious concerns and will discuss the situation at a meeting tonight because of its potential implications for other doctors operating in Link Management premises.
Dr Brian Hung Hing-yan, who has been practising at the centre since 2001, said he felt helpless after The Link notified him in July that the tenancy of his 400-square-metre clinic would be terminated. Hung has 30,000 patients, of whom several thousand consult him regularly.
He is also one of six doctors participating in a Hospital Authority project to take care of chronically ill patients from public clinics. He has about 300 patients under the scheme. He has been given a five-month temporary tenancy contract, which expires on November 15.
Another private doctor practising next to Hung's clinic faces the same fate. She has to bid for a new shop, together with Hung and other health care groups, through an open tender by mid-September. She is on maternity leave and could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Hung started a signature campaign yesterday among his patients to protest at The Link's decision. He has sought help from the Medical Association and the Hospital Authority.
'Family medicine is very geographically based. My patients will not come to see me any more if I move away from Tin Shui Wai. There is not much choice of other practices in this district because so many are run by The Link,' Hung said. 'There is no way for solo practitioners to compete with big health care groups. They can pay very high rents, but we do not want to charge high medical fees to cover the rent.'
The Link said having six doctors at the centre represented a 'relatively high proportion and concentration'. Its move to cut the number to five can give a more 'balanced mix of daily necessity offerings'. The two doctors would be given priority in bidding for a new clinic, a spokesman said.
A Hospital Authority spokesman last night said: 'The Hospital Authority is concerned and will keep a close eye on the development and will try to minimise the disruption to the group of patients who have been under the care of Dr Hung.'
Medical legislator Dr Leung Ka-lau criticised The Link for compromising the welfare of patients in its push for higher income.
Medical Association president Dr Tse Hung-hing said The Link had been 'persecuting' medical practitioners who practise alone. 'The Link has been forcing some solo practitioners to move to shops in poor locations and sharply raised their rent; now it has started to kick doctors out. We will not rule out any aggressive action to express our concerns.'
Former association president Dr Choi Kin, who is dealing with Hung's complaint, said The Link was depriving the district's patients of the right to have a family doctor they trust.
'These patients have been seeing the two doctors for many years; they may have to change to a new doctor and pay higher fees,' he said.
Leung said The Link's decision was 'very wrong'.
'Even if one of the two doctors wins the bid for a new clinic, the other one has to leave and patients will have to switch to a new doctor,' he said. 'The Link's overall tenancy policy - to maximise returns while ignoring social needs - is very annoying indeed.'
