Hong Kong health minister raises concerns over public hospital doctors going private after specialising

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Sunday also said the first batch of doctors hired as part of the government’s recent recruitment drives in the UK and Australia were set to start working in Hong Kong from next month.

The minister added that it was “worrying” that doctors in their 30s at public hospitals who had obtained specialist qualifications had the highest turnover rate among such practitioners in the sector.

“The recent trend is that some young doctors don’t wait, but leave immediately after obtaining their specialist qualifications,” he told a radio programme.

“There’s a growing sentiment that doctors look ‘stupid’ if they do not open private practices … As more and more people leave, a vicious cycle could form.”

While Lo did not disclose any figures on the radio show, the Hospital Authority later said 7.1 per cent of its full-time staff of doctors had quit between May 2022 and April 2023. The authority employed about 6,500 doctors in the 2022-2023 financial year.