HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL-8 March 1989
香港立法局 -一九八九年三月八日
70
As Dr. LEONG has pointed out, we owe much to the dedication of our doctors and nurses, and of course I agree, but the high priority given to our health services and the efforts of our Administration have been major factors also.
Sir, all that said, clearly more needs to be done to improve not only the quantity but more importantly the quality of our patient care. If we are to improve the quality of service we must look for a comprehensive solution to the problems in our hospitals; a solution which addresses how our hospital service should be organized and managed, how we can improve communication between staff management and, above all, how we ensure that we have highly motivated and contented hospital staff. Of course we share the concern of doctors and nurses about conditions in which they now work and the quality of patient care. But I do not believe that any reasonable persons could expect us to come up with a comprehensive solution overnight to these long term problems. A new organization and structure for the hospital service and revised conditions for staff must be a matter for the Hospital Authority.
Sir, I know that some staff believe that we are using the formation of the Hospital Authority as an excuse for delay. This is simply not true and I speak with your authority, Sir, today when I say that you and I are taking a close personal interest in the development of our hospital service and that top priority is being given by the Administration to the solving of our current problems. We are determined to tackle them urgently.
Sir, as head of the Civil Service I am concerned by the recent action taken by doctors and more recently by nurses, and I use their words, to embarrass the Administration by taking industrial action. We have a long tradition in the Civil Service of resolving our problems by careful and patient discussion. That principle has served both sides well and in most cases has ensured that the service to the people of Hong Kong, which is after all what being a civil servant is all about, has not been affected. In our recent dealings with both doctors and nurses I believe the Administration has shown great sincerity in responding to the problems which have been raised with us. The substantial measures that the Secretary has explained today are clear evidence of our good faith. We have explained that not all the problems can be tackled in the short term and I do not think it is in any way helpful for impossible deadlines, two weeks for example, to be set by the staff side for us to come up with comprehensive solutions to problems such as overcrowding. Against this background I was surprised, to say the least, to find the OMELCO Standing Panel on Health Services reported yesterday as being in support of industrial action taken by the nurses. Industrial action should be a matter of last resort when negotiations and discussions have broken down. Clearly this is not the case. We made positive proposals to the