LCQ21: Specialist medical services
15.3.2023

Following is a question by Dr the Hon Chow Man-kong and a written reply by the Acting Secretary for Health, Dr Libby Lee, in the Legislative Council today (March 15): Question: Regarding specialist medical services, will the Government inform this Council whether it knows: (1) the attendances of (a) inpatients and (b) outpatients of various specialties (including but not limited to (i) Cardiothoracic surgery, (ii) Ear, nose and throat, (iii) Ophthalmology, (iv) Medicine, (v) Neurosurgery and (vi) Surgery) in the hospitals under the Hospital Authority (HA) in each of the past three years, and set out in Table 1 a breakdown by hospital cluster and hospital; Table 1 Year: Hospital cluster Hospital Attendances of patients Specialty (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Others (a) (b) (2) the (a) number of, (b) average age of and (c) average waiting time for new patients of the outpatient services of various specialties (including but not limited to items (i) to (vi) mentioned in (1)) in each of the past three years, and set out in Table 2 a breakdown by hospital cluster and hospital; Table 2 Year: Hospital cluster Hospital (a)/(b)/(c) Specialty (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) (v) (vi) Others (a) (b) (c) (3) the (a) staffing establishment and (b) strength of specialists under the HA as at December last year, and set out in Table 3 a breakdown by hospital cluster, specialty (including but not limited to items (i) to (vi) mentioned in (1)) and rank (i.e. (A) consultant, (B) senior medical officer/associate consultant, (C) full-time specialist/resident, (D) part-time specialist/resident and (E) others); Table 3 Hospital cluster Specialty (a)/(b) Rank (A) (B) (C) (D) (E) Total (a) (b) (4) the following information on specialists under the HA in each of the past three financial years: (A) the attrition figures and attrition rates (set out by reason of departure (including but not limited to (a) retirement, (b) resignation, (c) transfer, (d) dismissal and (e) death)), (B) the average years of service of the departed doctors, (C) the number of new recruits, and (D) the positive/negative growth rates, and set out in Table 4 a breakdown by hospital cluster, specialty (including but not limited to items (i) to (vi) mentioned in (1)) and rank; and Table 4 Financial year: Hospital cluster Specialty (A) (B) (C) (D) (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) Total Rank: (5) the number of specialist training places the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine plans to provide in each of the coming three financial years, and set out in Table 5 a breakdown by college? Table 5 Financial year: College Specialist training places Reply: President, In consultation with the Hospital Authority (HA), the reply to Dr the Hon Chow Man-kong's question is as follows: (1) For the number of inpatient discharges and deaths as well as the number of day inpatient discharges and deaths by major specialties in each hospital cluster of the HA in the past three years, please refer to Annex 1. For the number of major specialist outpatient (clinical) attendances in each hospital cluster of the HA in the past three years, please refer to Annex 2. (2) For the number of major specialist outpatient new cases triaged as Priority 1 (urgent), Priority 2 (semi-urgent) and Routine (stable) cases; and their respective median (50th percentile) waiting time in each hospital cluster of the HA in the past three years, please refer to Annex 3. The HA does not maintain relevant statistics on the average age of new patients of the specialist outpatient services of various specialties. (3) For the manpower figures of doctors, reported on full-time equivalent (FTE) basis, by major specialty and by rank in each hospital cluster of the HA for 2022-23 (as at December 31, 2022), please refer to Annex 4. (4) For information related to the attrition figures and attrition rates of full-time specialist doctors, average years of service in the HA of departed full-time specialist doctors and intake figures of specialist doctors in the past three financial years, please refer to Annexes 5 to 8. For the manpower figures of specialist doctors reported on FTE basis in each hospital cluster of the HA, please refer to Annex 9. (5) The HA will discuss with the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM) on the number of specialist training places to be provided each year. With the increase in the number of local medical graduates, the HA has accordingly increased the number of Resident Trainee posts, with a view to employing all qualified local medical graduates and providing them with relevant specialist training. In deciding the number of Resident Trainee posts to be recruited each year, the HA will take into account various factors including the demand for services, development needs of specialist services, turnover rate and manpower supply. At this juncture, the HA and the HKAM could not provide the number of specialist training places in the coming three financial years.