Hospital Authority Academy stages inauguration ceremony (with photos)

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

　　The Hospital Authority Academy (HAA) staged its inauguration ceremony today (January 4). The HAA consolidates the current five corporate training institutes under the Hospital Authority (HA), to strengthen collaboration with external training institutes and enhance training programme credentials, so as to nurture professionals for the entire public healthcare industry.
 
　　The inauguration ceremony was officiated by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the company of the Chairman of the HA, Mr Henry Fan; the Chief Executive of the HA, Dr Tony Ko; the Head of the HAA, Dr David Sun, and members of Board of the HAA.
 
　　Professor Lo was pleased to note that the HAA was established last year with a commitment to promote a sustainable human resources strategy in the HA. He said, "Continuing professional development is an integral part of maintaining quality healthcare services, while upholding and uplifting professional skills, knowledge, and competencies are the keys to meeting the standard of good medical practices. I firmly believe that the establishment of the HAA will nurture more talent for the healthcare industry in Hong Kong, and help attract more talent to join the HA so as to better safeguard public health and enhance the standards of healthcare services."
 
　　Mr Fan said, "To cope with the challenges of an ageing population and the increasing demand for public healthcare services, staff training and development is the key in sustainable human resources strategy in the HA. The establishment of the HAA marks an important milestone in talent training for Hong Kong's public healthcare industry. The HAA strives to become an iconic corporate training institution providing structured, innovative, and cutting-edge training to facilitate professional progression and self-enhancement for staff, bringing new thoughts and ideas to healthcare training so as to enhance the medical standards in Hong Kong and promote Hong Kong to be an important global healthcare hub."
 
　　The HAA consolidates the training programmes of existing corporate training institutes of the HA, namely the Institute of Advanced Allied Health Studies, the Institute of Advanced Nursing Studies, the Institute of Health IT, the Institute of Vocational Training, and HA Nursing Schools, uplifting the training to a more professional and higher level. Several key training strategies have been mapped out, including:
 
1. Expand the scope of training to cater to the diverse needs and development trends of the healthcare industry;
2. Enhance the credentials of selective HA professional training programmes by pegging them to the Qualifications Framework;
3. Optimise training resources and make use of innovation and technology to promote staff learning; and
4. Establish networks with external parties to enhance training capacity and opportunities for the HA.
 
　　Professional teams are the backbone of the public healthcare system and are crucial to the effectiveness of delivering quality medical services. The HAA will actively provide professional and generic competencies training programmes for staff, not only to address the development and demand for healthcare services in future, but also enable career development and progression of staff in order to attract the younger generation to join the HA.