HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL-15 March 1989 香港立法局 一九八九年三月十五日
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in a state of poor repair, why did Government not set up a steering committee to review medical services as a whole! Instead it chose to confine the review only to the hospital services. Secondly, in the appointment of the steering committee, the number of officials sitting was such that in spite of the objections of most of the unofficial members to the terms of reference which excluded the review of the general outpatient clinics such objections were overruled.
Thirdly and for the same reasons as above, in spite of objections on grounds of conflict of interests to the appointment of the consultancy firm which had previously provided and which is also likely in future to provide direct services to the same department of which it is doing a review such objections were again overruled.
Lastly, since the terms of reference of the steering committee were confined to reviewing only hospital services, the consultants who admitted to me that it was more logical to recommend an independent medical and health authority could not so recommend.
By the time the consultancy report came out for members of the Medical Development Advisory Committee, the members of the medical profession and the public to comment, most of whom agreed that the review should include the general out-patient clinics, it was too late.
Sir, I am a pragmatic person. I am fully aware that such a reorganization of the Medical and Health Department paves the way to the setting up of an independent Hospital Authority which is now inevitable. And in spite of the Government's decision to do so against my opinion, I will continue to work closely with it to alleviate this situation of confusion as much as possible. It is because I want to respond positively that I am using this opportunity, with the hope that Sir Sze-yuen, you yourself, Sir, and those lay members of the Provisional Hospital Authority will hear and digest what I have to say and request an urgent conclusion to a review of the general out-patient clinics and consider whether they should be absorbed into the independent Hospital Authority. If so, the authority should be better termed the Independent Medical and Health Authority. We can then offer unfragmented medical treatment to patients. I believe that in most developed countries the equivalent authority provides both hospital as well as out-patient clinic services. This will leave a smaller department which should retain the existing name of Medical and Health Department and can assist Government towards policy making.
Sir, I agree with the Boyle Consultancy which Government appointed in 1979 to provide internal recommendations to the Medical and Health Department but criticize that the medical and health services should be split at