The Government announced today that commencement notices for the implementation of the regulatory regime for clinics and small practice clinics (SPCs) under the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance will be published in the Government Gazette this Friday.

Regulating premises where registered medical practitioners or dentists practise, the ordinance stipulates that a licence is required to operate a clinic, and that licensees must at all times comply with the ordinance, licence conditions and codes of practice (CoP) issued by the Director of Health (DoH).

The Department of Health will begin accepting applications for licences and requests for letters of exemption for SPCs from October 13 onwards.

To tie in with the licence application arrangements, the department will also publish the CoP for clinics in the Gazette this Friday, specifying October 13 as the day on which it comes into effect.

Given that they may require substantial alterations to meet the licensing requirements, clinics that were already in operation on November 30, 2018 will have until April 13 next year to apply for a licence.

The DH may issue a provisional licence allowing these clinics to continue their operations before a full licence is issued.

From October 13, operators of SPCs must ask the department for a letter of exemption from holding a licence in order to continue operating.

The commencement notices will be tabled at the Legislative Council meeting for negative vetting on May 28.