Doctors have denied politics were to blame for the failure of a ballot to select proposals to attract more overseas doctors to Hong Kong.
They pointed the finger rather at the election method chosen by Hong Kong doctors’ regulatory body.
The Medical Council on Wednesday failed to pass any of the four proposals, which aimed to fully exempt internship requirements for overseas-trained specialists who have passed the city’s licensing exam.
Overseas-trained specialists can currently apply for exemptions from part of the 12-month internship after passing the licensing exam. The new proposals aimed to further relax the requirements so as to relieve the overburdened public health care system, which is about 300 doctors short at any given time.
The council’s chairman Professor Joseph Lau Wan-yee had suggested on Wednesday that some council members had voted differently despite saying they would like to relax the internship requirements.
“Saying and doing are two different things in politics,” Lau said.
His remarks prompted a rebuttal from Dr David Lam Tzit-yuen, a member of the council and vice-president of the Medical Association, who accused Lau of being partly to blame for the collapse.
Lam added that, in general, there was a consensus among the medical sector on the need to relax the internship requirements. But the voting method had prevented the council from coming up with the best option for doing so.
Loosen restrictions on overseas doctors to ease staff shortages
“Would [Lau] please show evidence of that [suggesting some members played politics]?” Lam demanded in…
