Letters | What Hong Kong needs is a third medical school to ease doctor shortage
- With Hong Kong’s doctor-patient ratio below the average in developed countries, and hospitals there actively recruiting internationally, the city should work on training more medics locally
It is difficult to say what the appropriate doctor-to-population ratio should be, as health systems operate differently around the world. However, we can apply general economic principles to this discussion.
A fundamental economic principle is that competition is good, driving efficiency and innovation and directing businesses to meet consumer demands by providing the right price and quality. This applies to health care too; competition among health care providers will promote efficiency and better care in general.
So why not aim for triple the current number of doctors? The ratio will still sit below Germany’s. Even doubling the number of our doctors will only put us around the UK’s level and still way behind Australia.
Countries like the UK and Australia still feel that they are short of doctors and are actively recruiting internationally. The long-term outcome of Hong Kong’s efforts in recruiting foreign-trained doctors will be extremely modest. This is simply a function of Hong Kong’s attractiveness to live in.