TNAG-1725-FCO40-2438-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 130

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 20 January 1988

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This shows the Government's double standards in allowing different pro- fessions to regulate themselves. I strongly urge that this anomaly be eliminated and that the medical profession be given the autonomy to look after their own affairs. I sincerely hope that the Government would take heed of their proposal and further review the constitution of the Medical Council accordingly. Indeed, a recent editorial of the newsletter published by the Hong Kong Medical Association has made the same comment and I look forward to the support of my colleague, Dr. CHIU Hin-kwong of the Medical Constituency, on this point.

In passing, Sir, may I register that I have the same views on the Dentists Registration (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1987, the Nurses Registration (Amend- ment) Bill 1987, and the Midwives Registration (Amendment) Bill 1987 as well.

Sir, I support the motion.

DR. CHIU: Sir, before I speak on the present Bill, I wish to declare interest as a practising medical doctor and to put on record that the following remarks also apply to the Dentists Registration (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 1987, Nurses Registration (Amendment) Bill 1987 and the Midwives Registration (Amendment) Bill 1987.

The amendments which propose to relinguish the Director of Medical and Health Services of the chairmenship of the Medical Council, the Dental Council, the Nurses Board and the Midwives Board of Hong Kong are endorsed by my colleagues of the Medical Functional Constituency which includes doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives. They are pleased to learn that the Bills will make provisions for these professional statutory and self-regulating bodies to carry out their responsibilities of registration and discipline of their members with more independence under the leadership of an elected chairman. Another area which the Bills suggest and the medical personnel support is the proposal to enable the Governor to appoint one lay member to each board or council. Once these provisions are implemented, we expect the lay members to work closely with the medical members and to present their views from the perspective of a layman so as to enable the boards and councils to adopt a more objective attitude in the process of carrying out their duties.

In studying these Bills, Sir, I put them side by side with the Legal Practitioners Ordinance, the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers Ordinance and the Pro- fessional Accountants Ordinance and I found that the medical profession will after the enactment of the Bills be the only profession so far to have lay members serving on their boards and councils. I therefore propose that the Government should consider consulting the other professional bodies regarding the question of introducing lay members into their boards and councils. The introduction of lay members will serve to ensure that the views of the community at large are taken into account.