THE three-year battle by university doctors for the same pay package as their hospital counterparts has reached a deadlock, a leading campaigner has claimed.
The immediate past chairman of the University Medical Doctors' Association, Dr Shen Wan-yiu, said the ''identity problems'' of more than 20 university doctors - or 10 per cent of the total - had resulted in a delay in the submission for extra funding forthe new package.
More than 20 doctors in pathology services at the University of Hongkong are not paid by the university, but by the Health and Welfare Branch, even though they are employed on terms similar to those of university doctors.
The difference is the result of a decision by the Hospital Services Department to pay the university to run pathology services for Queen Mary Hospital.
But it was the Education and Manpower Branch which promised the new package last year. A spokesman for the branch had said it was still discussing with the Finance Branch the budget involved for parity.
Last summer, the 180-strong university doctors' association called off industrial action after the Government bowed to pressure for the package.