Excerpts from the South China Morning Post this week in 1969
A shortage of doctors prompted the government to announce improvements in service conditions for doctors working in the Medical and Health Department. From November, doctors were to receive special housing allowances, greater promotion opportunities and all women doctors were to be given equal pay.
No salary increases were announced, but the government said the salaries of doctors in the civil service were to be reviewed along with other professional and administrative salaries.
A pilot scheme to employ private doctors in government clinics was to be implemented immediately. The scheme would operate on a three-month trial basis in one government clinic on each side of the harbour. The new service conditions were based on recommendations contained in a report prepared by a special committee appointed by the governor earlier in the year to study the problem.
The report said the Medical and Health Department needed more than 230 new doctors to be fully staffed and that the actual staffing situation was worse than government figures suggested.
The government had 550 doctors on staff and was listing 70 vacancies. To fully staff all institutions and have sufficient doctors to cover those on study and vacation leave, the department theoretically needed 785 doctors, the report said.
