Doctors and nurses leaving HK a concern: Henry Fan

The chairman of the Hospital Authority, Henry Fan, says he’s worried about an increasing loss of public sector medical staff due to emigration.

He said from July 2020 until the end of June this year, the turnover rates of doctors and nurses were 4.6 and 6.5 percent respectively, and they’re rising in recent months.

“When you emigrate, you need to do a number of things. For example, [the departed staff] asked us for their detailed service records or early tax clearance because they have to leave,” Fan said in an interview with Hang Seng University published on Friday.

“So we’re sure the increase in staff losses was partly because of people emigrating, it’s just that we don’t have the exact figures.”

The chairman of the Hospital Authority also said some of its doctors moved to the private sector because some in private practice have left the territory.

One way to stop the bleeding, Fan said, is to allow permanent Hong Kong residents who graduated from a list of some 100 overseas medical schools to work in the SAR’s public hospitals.

He said he’s open to allowing non-permanent residents to work in the public medical system, as long as the quality of service is not affected and all local medical graduates are already employed.

Hong Kong’s overall population has fallen, with official figures out on Thursday showing it declined by 87,000 over the past year. The government attributed the drop to a “natural decrease”.