Doctors are against increasing the number of medical students despite the Hospital Authority's projection of a yearly shortfall of up to 270 doctors in the next decade. The chairman of the Frontline Doctors' Union, Ernie Lo Chi-fung, said yesterday that the authority should instead improve the working environment for doctors in public hospitals to reduce the turnover rate. In May, the authority predicted that public hospitals would need to recruit about 450 to 550 doctors a year until 2018. However, the number of graduates would decline from 310 this year to 280 in 2009 and 250 in 2011 as part of cutbacks in student places. With an expected turnover of between 305 to 360 doctors a year, the authority said this would leave a shortfall of 100 to 270 doctors. The authority suggested that an increase in the graduate supply from universities should be considered. But Dr Lo was worried that the authority would only treat the increased number of medical graduates as cheap labour. He doubted that the authority would be able to provide sufficient specialised training and supervision for the new graduates who might then cause medical blunders. 'To address the shortage of doctors in the public hospitals, the authority should improve the payments to the current doctors to reduce the turnover rate, which was 6.7 per cent last year,' he said. 'Also, it can consider recruiting some non-specialist private doctors who may be interested in receiving the specialised training and working in the public hospitals.' Medical Association president Choi Kin disagreed that there was a shortage of doctors in Hong Kong. On the contrary, there was a surplus of general practitioners in the private market who had to compete fiercely for patients, he said. He denied that the association opposed increasing the number of medical students due to protectionism. However, Fok Tai-fai, dean of medicine at Chinese University, said as the population was ageing and the authority was trying to reduce the doctors' working hours, there was a practical need to increase the number of medical students to ensure the quality of services and reduce patient waiting times. A Hospital Authority spokeswoman said it had adopted measures, such as higher salaries and longer contract terms, to retain doctors. In Hong Kong, there are about 1.56 doctors per 1,000 population, compared with 2.56 in the United States, 2.3 in Britain and 1.98 in Japan, World Health Organisation statistics show.