The government should set up a quality-assurance system for family physicians if it wants to promote the 'one person, one doctor' system, according to a medical expert and a patients' rights activist.
Donald Li Kwok-tung, past president of the College of Family Physicians, welcomed the government's initiative to set up a new working group to promote a system of family doctors in Hong Kong. But he said the term 'family doctor' should be well defined and there should be standards and quality assessment of practitioners.
'Most people do not understand what a family doctor is,' Dr Li said.
'We need some definitions and quality-assurance programmes.
'Family medicine is a specialised primary care that emphasises comprehensive, cost-effective and continuous care.
'They [doctors] do not only treat present problems, they also commit themselves to health promotion, disease prevention, counselling and patient education.'
The Health, Welfare and Food Bureau will soon set up a working group to introduce a system to deter 'doctor shopping'.