TNAG-1727-FCO40-2440-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 136

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ances for medical and nursing staff in subvented hospitals. Sir, when we spend public money, we should be careful not to waste any funds, but let us not

misunderstand the meaning of careful spending lest

unfainness

it will result in inequity and in brain drain affecting

since services to the community. Therefore, the provisional

7 hospital authority will soon begin its work and the

system of hospitals will soon be changed, and the Government should quickly map out fair and reasonable measures to resolve the problems of changing the status of Government medical and nursing staff, in order to defuse their anxiety. In fact, there is a shortage of medical and nursing staff and wastage of them owing

to emigration. If the proposed changes further adversely affect the operations of hospitals or the quality of service, these will not be welcomed by the public. [Also, the Government should not overlook the welfare of staff working in subvented hospitals. At present, staff in Government and subvented hospitals hold similar qualifications and carry out similar duties,

Jess 21 but the latter enjoy much fewer fringe benefits than their Government counterparts. So the subvented

in veriting.

кожну hospitals face difficulties to recruit and to keep staff. 24 In the past, the two groups of hospitals have been

managed by two different systems. Staff in the sub- vented sector could still try to forget the difference, but very soon all hospitals will be managed by an

hose tax independent, authority.

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If by then fringe benefits for different hospitals remain not the same, it will lead

to dissatisfaction, confusion and further brain drain.

32 (Sir, in this Budget, the Government has allocated more.

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funds to improve medical services for better protection of public health. However, the mere addition of allocation without resolving the inner inequities, will still damage staff morale and result in massive brain