Limited registration approved for non-locally trained doctors

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (June 14) announced that confirmation was received from the Medical Council of Hong Kong on the approval of seven applications of non-locally trained doctors for practice with limited registration in public hospitals to help relieve the frontline workload. Among the seven applications, five are new applications while the other two are for renewal. The seven doctors will be serving in emergency medicine, family medicine, neurosurgery, paediatrics and radiology departments.

     The overseas recruitment of non-locally trained doctors will continue. Up to May 2019, there are 14 non-locally trained doctors who have been assessed to be eligible for the recruitment exercise considered suitable for appointment after interviews by user departments. All the applicants have fulfilled related qualification requirements recognised by the constituent colleges of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, and they all have license to practise in their respective countries. The HA will submit limited registration applications for non-locally trained doctors by batches according to their intended date of reporting for duty. The recruitment of non-locally trained doctor has been progressing well, with ongoing applications for positions in the HA received. Selection interviews will be arranged for the eligible applicants.

     Currently, there are 12 non-locally trained doctors working in public hospitals under limited registration to relieve manpower shortage and workload pressure of frontline doctors in the specialties of anaesthesia, cardiothoracic surgery, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine and radiology. 

     Since April this year, the HA has expanded the scope of the limited registration recruitment scheme to all specialties at the rank of Service Resident, and to recruit non-locally trained specialists at the rank of Associate Consultant in eight specialties (anaesthesia, anatomical pathology, cardiothoracic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, radiology and nuclear medicine) which face a significant shortage of specialists.