HEALTH
Training
149
Graduates of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Hong Kong are awarded Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degrees recognised by the General Medical Council of Great Britain. Both the government and the university maintain a comprehen- sive post-graduate training programme. Opportunities are available for local doctors to sit for higher professional examinations, attain fellowships and attend professional con- ferences, seminars and workships. During the year, more than 170 qualified doctors went overseas under government sponsorship or other scholarships to receive further training.
The University of Hong Kong produces about 150 medical doctors a year, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong has an annual intake of 120 medical students.
The number of nurses employed by the government has grown to more than 9 000. Basic training for general registered nurses is available at government, government-assisted and private hospitals. There are now eight such training schools with a total of 1 200 places. Over the next 10 years four more nurse training schools are planned. Training places for general enrolled nurses will be increased from 612 to 777. =
Training schools for registered psychiatric nurses are at the Kwai Chung Hospital and the Castle Peak Hospital, with an annual capacity of 120 and 40 respectively. Two more training schools for psychiatric nurses are planned to be in operation by the late 1980s. One will be at the United Christian Hospital and the other at the new hospital to be built in Chai Wan. Psychiatric enrolled nurses are trained at the Castle Peak Hospital. The present capacity of about 60 nurses will be increased to 80 in 1986.
There is increasing awareness of the need for continued training and education for nurses. The post-basic school of the Nursing Unit continues to provide regular post- registration courses in midwifery, health nursing and community health nursing. An Institute of Medical and Health Care at the Hong Kong Polytechnic provides training for para-medical and para-dental staff.
Government Laboratory
The Government Laboratory is the main centre for analytical chemistry and the greater part of its programme is directly related to technical aspects of government policy, notably revenue, health, environment and, where appropriate, law enforcement. The first edition of a booklet describing the laboratory's functions and various services was published during the year.
One of the traditional functions of the laboratory is to provide a comprehensive analytical and technical advisory service to the Customs and Excise Service. Commodities of industrial importance such as tobacco, spirits, beer, cosmetics and hydrocarbon oils were regularly examined.
The laboratory undertook consulting and investigatory work for various government departments. Dangerous goods, government purchases, pesticide formulations and forged consumer goods remained the main areas of interest. Work was initiated on the provision of a full statutory gold assay service to support the enforcement of the Trade Descriptions (Marking) (Gold and Gold Alloy) Order 1984. The laboratory continued to examine monthly samples of cigarette brands on sale locally in order to determine their tar and nicotine yields. The results from this testing programme are published twice yearly in the form of tables which show the brands ranked according to tar yields.
Interest in environmental matters remained at a high level and the demand on the laboratory for the analysis of air and water samples continued undiminished. Concurrently, there was an increase in the number of requests to investigate occupational atmospheres for a wide range of chemicals.