Limited registration approved for non-locally trained doctors

The following is issued on behalf of the Hospital Authority:

     The Hospital Authority (HA) spokesperson today (July 13) announced that confirmation was received from the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) earlier 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, three are new applications while the other four are for renewal. The seven doctors will be serving in anaesthesia, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, paediatrics and radiology departments.
 
     The HA spokesperson said that the recruitment of non-locally trained doctors will continue. Selection interviews by user departments will be arranged for eligible applicants. The HA will submit limited registration applications to the MCHK for the non-locally trained doctors who are considered suitable for appointment according to their intended date of reporting duty.
 
     Currently, there are 26 non-locally trained doctors working in public hospitals under limited registrations to relieve the manpower shortage and workload pressure of frontline doctors in the specialties of anaesthesia, cardiothoracic surgery, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, neurosurgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, paediatrics, radiology and surgery. 
 
     From April this year, the recruitment criteria of non-locally trained doctors with limited registration in emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine and paediatrics have been updated to include eligible applicants with pre-intermediate qualifications recognised by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, aiming to attract more eligible applicants and alleviate the heavy workload of frontline doctors. The HA currently recruits non-locally trained doctors as Service Residents in all specialties, and non-locally trained specialists at the rank of Associate Consultant in specialties which face a significant shortage of specialists (including anaesthesia, anatomical pathology, cardiothoracic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, obstetrics and gynaecology, ophthalmology, radiology, nuclear medicine, neurosurgery and plastic surgery).