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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL.
8. With regard to the Hon. Member's suggestion that Govern- ment should arrange for contracts with private firms of doctors for medical attendance, the Government does not consider that the arrangement would be economical. The amount of time spent over domiciliary visits is far less than the Hon. Member seems to think. This is obvious from the large amount of other work the Medical Officers for Families have to do.
9. There is no restriction on any officer's choice of doctor but Government servants are not compelled to ignore the qualifications of Government Medical Officers and seek the attention of Private Practitioners.
10. The Hon. Member has been misinformed-It is not the policy of the Director of Medical and Sanitary Services for the Government to take over (at the expense of the taxpayer) all the Medical Services of the Colony and to drive eventually the private practitioners out of business. There are already adequate nursing homes where the private practitioners can attend their own patients.
11. The custom of restricting treatment in Government hospitals to members of the Hospital Staff does not differ materially from that in vogue elsewhere.
12. In the so called voluntary hospitals in London, if a patient chooses to resort there for treatment he must put up with treatment by one of the staff: the same applies to the Municipal Hospitals of London or Glasgow: the same applies to Hospitals in America, in Germany, in France and Italy: the same applies to Malaya.
13. With regard to the staffing of the Queen Mary Hospital, it is intended that the same system as prevails at the Government Civil Hospital shall prevail there viz.-that the work shall be divided between the Government Medical Staff and the Government Consultants who are Professors in the University. The Government Staff then as now will consist of both European Medical Officers and Chinese Medical Officers.
14. The number of Chinese Medical Officers in the service already represents 43 per cent. of the total number of qualified medical officers, and this proportion will be increased.
15.-I hope that the replies I have given will convince the Hon. Senior Unofficial Member that the small increase of Medical Officers from 8 to 10 is justified.
THE COLONIAL SECRETARY.—I should like in the first place to congratulate the Honourable Member on both the manner and the matter of his maiden speech in this Council. It was said, I think by Disraeli, that no Government can last without a strong opposition, and this Government welcomes criticism of a constructive nature, such as has been advanced in the speech to which we have just listened.
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