The government yesterday said it would not implement a recommendation to restructure the Health Department, despite advice that a more powerful health director could regulate the private sector under the planned 'one doctor, one family' system.
The government plans to introduce a family doctor system, proposed by the Health and Medical Development Advisory Committee, in the first phase of the health-care financing reform.
But primary health care experts said the success of such a major undertaking would depend on whether regulatory and policy mechanisms were in place to rein in the private sector. This would require a re-definition of the Health Department.
The Sars Expert Committee that investigated the 2003 Sars outbreak proposed that the Health Department be absorbed by the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau to improve co-ordination across departments and facilitate policymaking.
Under the proposed merger, a post of chief medical officer would be created within the bureau to directly oversee Health Department operations, and provide direct assistance to the health minister in formulating public health policies.
Sian Griffiths, of the Sars Expert Committee, said: 'If the plan is to have a family medicine network, the Health Department needs to be combined with the bureau.'
But a bureau spokeswoman yesterday said: 'We have no plans to merge the Health, Welfare and Food Bureau and the Health Department at this stage.'
