65
March 27, 1936
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
507
Over Fourteen Million Dollars For Salaries
whilst the Senior Officers had to resort to and pay for the services of Doctors in private firms. In this connection I have been informed that the fees received by one pri- vate firm of Doctors from Senior Civil Servants in the year 1931 amounted to $9141, but have, in the year 1935, fallen to $2107.
Whilst private practitioners are being hard hit by the above new policy of the Government, which occasions increased expense to the tax-payers of this Colony for sal- ary, housing, leave-pay, and pen- sions, and, therefore, ought as a new policy to have been submitted to this Council for its approval, those practitioners are rigidly, and,
as we from
think, wrongly, excluded every part of the Govern- ment Hospitals, except the Ma- ternity wards of the Victoria and Kowloon Hospitals, and thus are debarred, in the majority of cases, from attending upon those of their patients who go into Government Hospitals. We urge strongly that such exclusion should be abolish- ed. We have been informed that it is part of the policy of the Honourable the Director of Medical and Sanitary Services for the Gov- ernment to take over (at the ex- | pense of the tax-payers) all the Medical Services of this Colony and to drive eventually the private practitioners out of business by the Government competing with them. We shall be glad to learn from Dr Wellington, as a Member of this Council, whether our above in- formation is substantially correct.
Surely it would be possible for the Government to arrange for contracts with a firm of doctors, as is done by business people now, and to save public money by so doing; the choice of doctors to be left to patients to decide.
Of course it is conceded that, owing to the increase, during re- cent years, of accommodation at the Kowloon Hospital, some in- crease in the Government Hospital Medical staff was necessary, but we contend that such increase certainly did not justify the en- gagement of so many as 7 addi- tional European Doctors in the Hospital Division of the Medical Department.
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as the Hospital will not be ready until 1937.”
In this connection it is suggest- ed, firstly, that a good deal of the time of the present Government Medical Officers could be saved, if people, who now go to Govern- ment Hospitals (which are paid for by the Public and should be open to private practitioners) for treat- ment or operations but can afford to pay a private practitioners) for treatment or operations be allowed to be attended there by private practitioners, and second- ly, that, if any increase of the Government Hospital Staff is found to be necessary in order to staff the Queen Mary Hospital, considerable economy could be effected by the Government en- gaging medical graduates of the Hong Kong University on dollar salaries instead of engaging Me- dical Officers from Britain on ex- pensive sterling salaries.
"No provision, apart from one sew amah, has been made for the extra staff that will be required for the new Queen Mary Hospital, as the Hospital will not be readv until 1937.
In this conection it is suggested, firstly, that a good deal of the time of the present Government Medical Officers could be saved, if people, who now go to Government Hos- pitals for treatment or operations but can afford to pay a private practitioner for treatment or operations, were compelled to consult private practitioners, and secondly, that, if any increase of the Government Hospital Staff is found to be necessary to staff the Queen Mary Hospital, considerable economy could be effected by the Government engag- ing medical graudates of the Hong Kong University on dollar salaries instead of engaging Medical Of- ficers from Britain on expensive sterling salaries.
In conclusion I must deal with a point, which has been briefly referred to by the mover of this motion, and which is a very sore
Yet another point which we would urge is that economics might possibly be effected if an Unofficial Member of this Council were appointed in an advisory capacity, a Member of the Ap-point with the Unofficial Members pointments Board to the Senior Clericial and Accounting Service.
In the course of his speech Mr. Lo has referred to the difficulty of getting rid of Civil Servants for bribery or other irregular practices and there can be no doubt that this difficulty in
of getting rid Subordinate officers for bribery constitutes a serious blot upon the wholesome administration of the this Co- laws and regulations of lony. In Hong Kong, unfortunate- ly, conditions are far more con-
ducive than in other Colonies to the offer and acceptance of bribes, and accordingly many of our Or- dinances and regulations are pot- ential vehicles for bribery.
SUGGEST A RADICAL CHANGE
In these circumstances the Un- official Members feel compelled, in the interests of the public, to suggest a radical change, namely, that no Subordinate Officials in the service, should, in future be taken on to the permanent Staff of the Colony, but that, instead, they be
for taken on, on agreements terms of years, which would be re- newable, at the option of the Gov- ernment. Some sort of scheme for a contributory provident fund for such Officers would have to be created, in lieu of a pension. "No provision, apart from one In the course of his Budget sew aman, has been made for the speech of the 12th September last, extra staff that will be required
the Acting Colonial Secretary for the new Queen Mary Hospital, said (see Hansard 1935, p.165):-
PRIVATE TREATMENT
In the course of his Budget speech of the 12th September last, the Acting Colonial Secretary said
(see Hansard 1935, p.165) :—
of this Council. In my letter to the Colonial Secretary of the 18th September last I, as the mouth- piece of every one of the Unofficial Members, urged the Government to fix Exchange forward for all the sterling commitments of the Government for 1936. Those ster-
ling commitments the Acting Co- lonial Secretary, in his Budget speech, stated to amount to £750,- 000 sterling. (see Hansard 1935 at p.157). EXCHANGE SHOULD BE FIXED In a further letter to the Gov- ernment of the 25th September I, on behalf of all the Unofficial Mem- bers, urged that at least sterling Exchange should be fixed for- ward for all the Government's sterling commitments in 1936. other than for sterling salaries, "as being in accordance with the best commercial practice.”
As sterling Exchange could have tnen, or shortly afterwards, been fixed at the rate of about 2/-to the dollar, the Colony has become involved, quite unnecessarily, in a large extra expenditure to meet its sterling commitments for 1936, with the result that our Budget for this year has become badly unba- lanced, instead of our being in a comparatively satisfactory finan- cial position
This is most regrettable, and, up to the present moment no reason has been given to us, which we re- gard as adequate, for that deplor-