Doctor drive in UK produces healthy number of recruits to bolster medicine in Hong Kong, health authority says
- About 20 doctors and soon-to-graduate medical students trained in UK to start work in city in the autumn and ease staffing problems
- New hires made after Hospital Authority delegation beat the drum for UK-based medical personnel in London this month
About 20 doctors and soon-to-graduate medical students trained in the United Kingdom are expected to start work in Hong Kong in the autumn, a development authorities said would promote the exchange of knowledge and boost professional standards.
Their recruitment was secured after Hospital Authority chief executive Tony Ko Pat-sing led a delegation to London earlier this month to lure UK-based medical students and doctors, including Hongkongers, to work in public hospitals, which are battling a severe manpower crunch.
He said more than 600 people had taken part in the face-to-face and virtual recruitment events and more than 80 per cent of them were permanent residents in the city.
The recruitment team made more than 100 conditional offers to participants at the event and about 20 of them had already accepted them, Ko added.
“We require those who come to work in Hong Kong to provide a graduation certificate and complete their registration in the city, so it may take some time for them to arrive in Hong Kong,” Ko explained. “They may also need to arrange housing and family matters. We expect them to arrive in the third quarter.”