TNAG-1855-FCO40-2630-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-memoranda-and-minutes-of-me-1989 — Page 179

HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL-8 March 1989

香港立法局—————————一九八九年三月八日

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devotion is dwindling and we are skating on thin ice the frontline workers' endurance should never be over-exploited!

In conclusion, Sir, it is my most sincere hope that the Administration should come out of the cocoon and wake up from hibernation. We have new men, young and energetic, in the related branches and departments. I am sure the medical and health profession would be more than willing to work with them to uphold our splendour in the delivery of health services to this community that we treasure!

DR. IP: Sir, in the past seven years in the Legislative Council I have publicly identified many chronic problems within the Medical and Health Department, such as bad working conditions in hospitals, too low a staff to patient ratio, low morale among the medical and paramedical staff, the lack of adequate clerical support, a hopeless medical record system and an unfair distribution of resources between government and subvented hospitals, among others.

I have fought hard in the Legislative Council, in the Steering Committee to Review the Delivery of Hospital Service, in the Finance Committee and at times lobbied my Executive Council colleagues for support, to push for a review of the clinics concurrently with that of the hospitals. But the problems I have identified were either vehemently denied, played down or ignored.

Fortunately now, I no longer have to stand up to give lengthy 45-minute speeches alone because dozens of my colleagues will speak on these problems today, echoed in the press by the medical and the paramedical workers. I agree with everything my colleague Dr. LEONG Chi-hung said in his speech. That is probably the reason why both of us who have worked long hours together in the public hospital and failed to improve the situation from within had left to try now to improve the system from without.

I am only sad that it has required a strike before Government admits and remedies the problems. But I am glad all these have at long last come up into the open in a big way. Everybody believes in ; failing that, it is better late than never! My only regret is: why has it taken so many years before doctors and nurses come out in the open to fight to improve services for their patients? Where have they been all these years?

In retrospect it seems that Government had either trusted and appointed a previously incompetent Director of Medical and Health Services, listened to the wrong advisers, played down the importance of a good medical and health service in relation to other services, or a combination of these three.