Specialists to get a say in electing two members to Hong Kong doctors' watchdog the Medical Council
The city’s Academy of Medicine addresses concerns of physicians in a bid to move along the government’s embattled reform bill for the council
Hong Kong’s medical specialists’ training institute said earlier this week it was prepared to give its more than 7,600 fellows a say in electing two representatives from its ranks to join a doctor’s watchdog, instead of only its 27-member board making the decision.
Hong Kong government seeks to reform the city’s doctors watchdog. But what is the Medical Council?
The government had last year submitted the Medical Registration Bill to the Legislative Council. It sought to rectify criticisms that the council had dragged its feet in handling complaints and was a “closed shop” that protected its own.
The council currently has 28 members – 14 appointed by the chief executive, seven elected by the city’s largest doctor’s group, the Medical Association, and seven elected by registered doctors. Two of the 14 appointed seats are reserved for the Academy of Medicine.
Among other things, the bill proposed appointing four new members who are not doctors to the council. With 32 people, it could speed up the time taken to conduct complaint hearings as this had so far taken an average of 58 months.
It also suggested converting the two appointed seats for the academy, a statutory body with regulatory powers, into elected seats, but with only board members allowed to vote.