HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL —8 March 1989
香港立法局—————————一九八九年三月八日
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(a) 74 Senior Medical Officer posts have already been created with effect
from 1 March 1989, this is in addition to the original 316 posts;
(b) a proposal to provide an honorarium for doctors who consistently work unusually long hours will be considered by the Finance Committee of this Council later this afternoon;
(c) action is proceeding with the creation of 32 consultant posts, on top of the present 82 posts; the necessary approval by the Finance Committee of this Council will be sought in three batches between June and October this year.
I have today written to the Government Doctors' Association to invite them formally to send their representatives to participate in a committee which the Government has decided to set up to address the practical and staffing problems involved in the management of government hospitals. This high-level committee will be chaired by me personally and will include representatives of the Civil Service Branch, Finance Branch and the Medical and Health Department and, subject to the Government Doctors' Association's agreement, representatives of that association. It is my most sincere wish that through this direct dialogue, effective measures can be identified and introduced in the short term to alleviate some of the problems that have existed for so many years.
We are equally concerned about the high wastage of government nurses in the past two years and the recent recruitment difficulties. Our nurses are working under great pressure and the demands placed upon them are heavy indeed. To address these and other related problems, a Nursing and Allied Grades Review Committee was set up last December between the senior management of the Medical and Health Department and the nursing staff. So far the review committee has identified the need to create 205 Nursing Officer II posts and 591 Registered Nurse posts. It has also recommended increasing the starting pay of student nurses in order to attract more recruits. A package of improvements will be finalized in two months' time and, where necessary, put to the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service and the Finance Committee of this Council.
We have equally dedicated service from doctors in subvented hospitals. Contrary to the views expressed by several Members, it is the Government's policy to provide similar manpower and equipment resources to government and subvented hospitals which provide similar services. Thus, resources are allocated on the basis of the type of function which each hospital performs, having particular regard to the ratio of acute to convalescent beds, irrespective of whether they are part of the government or subvented sector. It thus follows that similar treatment should be given to both sectors in respect of efforts to retain