TNAG-0507-FCO40-572-Development-of-medical-and-health-services-in-Hong-Kong-1974 — Page 62

The

develop-

ment of a

second

medical

school.

For hospitals [including existing institutions, Princess Mar- garet (general and psychiatric wings), Sha Tin and Tuen Mun]

740

Consulting rooms (assuming the completion of the projects mentioned in Chapter 8 of this White Paper and expanded family planning facilities etc.) Administration and specialised services Day beds in four clinics

440

116

4

TOTAL 1,300

Note: This total is based on different planning ratios according to the various categories of beds to be provided. It also takes into consideration development at the Tuen Mun Hospital of 1,200 instead of 500 beds initially as recom- mended in the MDAC Report.

If in addition it proves necessary to provide additional temporary beds above the 1972 level, to cater for the number of patients anticipated by the MDAC, further doctors would be required.

9.6 To meet this need, to go some way to meeting the require- ments expected to arise in the years 1983-92, and to meet the requirements of the private sector, the MDAC recommended that a minimum additional annual local supply to produce about 100 doctors would be required. Since recruitment of qualified Cantonese speaking doctors from elsewhere on this scale is not to be expected, the Government accepts that local training capacity must be increased.

9.7 The Government recognizes that the pressing need for additional qualified doctors cannot quickly be met. In the case, for example, of non-Commonwealth graduates, it is understood that there is no possibility of any examining body coming to Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to conduct qualifying examinations which would lead to registration with the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom (GMC), which is essen- tial. However, the Director of Medical and Health Services can offer employment to non-Commonwealth graduates whose training and experience is acceptable to him.

9.8 The MDAC having identified the requirement for addi- tional doctors, the Government subsequently consulted the Univer sity and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC) on how the requirement could best be achieved and to give an estimate of comparative costs.

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9.9 The UPGC considered that the choice lay between the establishment of a new medical school at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and expansion of the medical faculty at the University of Hong Kong (HKU); that there was no likelihood of getting the extra doctors required from overseas; and that a medical school independent of either university or run jointly by both would be administratively impracticable. The UPGC noted the advantages of expanding the medical faculty at HKU. These lie primarily in the fact that there is already a large and reputable medical faculty at HKU with the necessary experience and expertise; there would also be savings in time and no problem of the recognition of the degree by the GMC. There would however be disadvantages. This medical faculty already has an intake of 150 students and by world standards this is regarded as large enough; 250 would be definitely too large. The output of an additional 100 doctors at HKU would require the provi- sion at the Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret Hospitals of teaching facilities; if this expansion took place there would be an imbalance among the various faculties and further expansion would not be possible, nor would the addition of a dental school. Nor could students from the Chinese middle school stream be admitted because they do not meet the requirements for the advanced level examination of the University.

9.10 The UPGC recognized that the alternative of establish- ing a medical school at CUHK would present formidable prob- lems. On the other hand, the UPGC considered that considerable advantage would be derived from the existence of two medical schools in Hong Kong of comparable size, and that each would be large enough to be efficient and to stimulate and complement each other. It noted too that a hospital was proposed for Sha Tin, which could be designed as a teaching hospital from the outset, by adapting the plans for the Princess Margaret Hospital, which the UPGC considered could be achieved without fundamental re- drawing.

9.11 On the balance of the factors taken into consideration, the UPGC advised and the Government accepts that the new medical school should be sited at CUHK. A suitable site for the pre-clinical building is available within the CUHK campus next to the existing science centre.

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