Record-high doctors’ turnover rate of 5.7 per cent in Hong Kong public hospitals worsens manpower shortage issues
Industry insiders call for more public-private partnership and easing of hiring criteria for private and non-local doctors
A record-high number of doctors left Hong Kong’s public hospitals last year with a turnover rate of 5.7 per cent, sparking concerns that existing measures have failed to solve an exodus crisis, the Post has learned.
The current shortfall of more than 250 doctors is partly a result of increasing job opportunities in the more lucrative private market, causing a talent drain in departments that are in urgent need of medical staff, such as emergency and internal medicine.
The worsening manpower shortage also came as public hospitals struggle to cope with the winter surge of flu cases. Two new public hospitals in North Lantau and Tin Shui Wai still cannot expand their services to full capacity and have been offering limited emergency services due to insufficient medical practitioners.
The long-standing problem prompted calls for the government to look into the possibility of hiring doctors from overseas.
“Local doctors should think more deeply about their attitudes against the recruitment of overseas practitioners,” Patients’ Rights Association spokesman Tim Pang Hung-cheong said.