Health Secretary backs aims of private member’s bill targeting Medical Council

By Kahon Chan in Hong Kong

kahon@chinadailyhk.com

The government recognized the merits of bringing more laymen into the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK), Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man said on Monday.

This assurance came when Tommy Cheung Yu-yan, a Liberal Party lawmaker representing the catering industry, presented his private member’s bill on Monday. If enacted, it would double the number of non-industry members inside the statutory body.

The council has been the subject of a review by a steering committee tasked to advise on healthcare manpower. The review will be completed next year.

According to Ko, who chairs the committee, the review will examine changes to the regulatory regime. These are necessary in order to strengthen professional standards.

The health chief told the Legislative Council’s Panel on Health Services that the authorities “recognized” the merits of boosting public participation in the professional body. This is a move widely endorsed by the council’s counterparts in other places.

However, Ko did not lay out specific plans to counter Cheung’s bill or state the government’s position on the bill. The review will conclude in the first half of next year.

Resistance inside LegCo has been small. The Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, which has the most lawmakers, is “open-minded”. The opposition Labour Party will support the bill. Others who spoke at the panel meeting favored the proposals.

Even Leung Ka-lau, representing doctors in the legislature, said people in the sector were not bothered by the prospect of a higher ratio of lay members on the MCHK. Their priority was to maintain a balance between members elected by the profession and those chosen by institutions.

All four current lay members are chosen by the government. The Hospital Authority, the Department of Health, the Academy of Medicine and two local medical schools are each entitled to place two doctors on the council. Fourteen others are elected among medical practitioners.

Because doctors believed appointed members had not supported their interests, Leung said they would only accept more outsiders if the number of elected members was also increased.

The panel did not vote on Cheung’s bill, which is pending further scrutiny by the government and the LegCo president.