A top adviser to Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who oversees appointments to advisory and statutory bodies, yesterday resigned from a hospital board amid concerns over conflicting interests.
Human resources expert Sophia Kao Ching-chi was in November controversially recruited to the Central Policy Unit to recommend government appointments. But further questions were raised this week when it was reported that Kao had in April been appointed by the Hospital Authority as a governing committee member at the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital in Chai Wan.
Kao yesterday said she had quit the committee with immediate effect, citing "public concerns". Authority chairman Anthony Wu Ting-yuk accepted her resignation last night.
Kao said she had quit all public posts after becoming a government employee in the unit last year, but she accepted the authority's appointment as she believed there would be no conflict of interest between her roles.
A spokesman for the unit said Kao accepted the hospital board appointment "in [her] personal capacity" and "with a heart for public service".
According to the authority, there are 38 hospital governing committees, which monitor public hospitals' operational and financial performance. The committees also receive regular reports from the hospitals' chief executives.