Public doctors are willing to accept a more active approach by the Medical Council in investigating blunders but say they want better working conditions and shorter hours in return.
The response came after the council said it would in future launch investigations even if there had not been a complaint.
Doctors' representatives plan to take their case for shorter hours to a meeting today with the Hospital Authority, which follows a ruling by the Court of Final Appeal last week that on-call doctors are entitled to compensation, even though they might not need to work or answer calls.
Frontline Doctors' Union vice-chairman Dr Seamus Siu Yuk-leung said the council's plan could increase the transparency of the public medical system, but the authority should, in return, offer a better working environment and reduce working hours.
Currently, some doctors have to work continuously for more than 30 hours.
'We will bargain until the hours are reduced to below 20,' Siu said. Council chairwoman Professor Felice Lieh Mak said at the weekend that it would take proactive steps to investigate blunders in public hospitals. Instead of taking action after complainants filed their cases, the council would now act on inquest findings or media reports.
