XN000022-1972-06-07 — Page 44

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Wednesday, June 7, 1972

charges for quarters, then these conditions should be

brought into line with those of the Government before parity could be attained.

Salary differentials between grades must be understood as a principle by which staff were graded differently according to their entry qualifications, periods of training and occupation, and so on. Many demands for improved salaries based on comparisons with other grades failed to take these differences into proper account. The Department was always safeguarding the interests of its staff, and never failed to recommend improvements to conditions of service when they were justified.

The number of vacancies for doctors in the Department included posts for future expansion and leave reserve, and did not mean that so many posts in the existing services were unfilled.

* It was inevitable that a number of doctors, sooner or

later, left the Government for private practice. Only those who went on full-pay study leave should be bound to serve the Government for three years after their return. All graduates wishing to spend any length of time with the Department to gain further experience would be welcomed, since this would better prepare them for private practice.

Registration in Hong Kong of doctors trained abroad was determined by the principle of reciprocity fixed, not by the Medical and Health Department, but by the Medical Council, an independent body. It had nothing to do either with politics or nationality, but was related to many valid reasons, the most valid being the difference in standards of practice and conceptions of medical ethics in different countries.

/On the