Hong Kong public hospitals need additional 100 internal medicine doctors, college says
College of Physicians expresses concern about pressure on doctors amid peak flu season and ageing population
The city’s public hospitals are facing a shortage of at least 100 doctors specialising in internal medicine amid growing demand arising from the peak flu season and the ageing population, according to the Hong Kong College of Physicians.
College president Professor Philip Li Kam-tao, who revealed the statistics on Tuesday, called on the government to hire more public doctors as the existing number had failed to catch up with the growth in patient numbers over the past few years.
Doctors working in internal medicine are said to be significantly overloaded at a time when the city is being hit with the summer flu peak. A total of 427 patients have either died or been admitted to intensive care units because of severe flu.
Li said currently each doctor had to take care of up to 25 patients in a medical ward, while an ideal ratio should be 12 to 15 patients.
Official statistics show that a total of 1,081 people were admitted to public medical wards through emergency units on Monday, more than the average 850 patients received during non-peak periods. The overall bed occupancy rate stood at 112 per cent.
