The Health Bureau today welcomed the Office of The Ombudsman's direct investigation operation report on the effectiveness of administrative support provided for complaint handling by the Secretariat of Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) under the Department of Health (DH), and the department's regulatory role.

The DH said the Government accepts and will actively follow up on the recommendations in the report, striving to assist the MCHK to optimise its complaint-handling mechanism, enhance operational efficiency, and improve service quality.

In its report published today, the Ombudsman expressed concerns about the MCHK's current mechanism and the progress in complaint handling, and put forward a number of recommendations for improvement, some of which will involve legislative amendments.

The Health Bureau had previously indicated that it would propose amendments to the Medical Registration Ordinance in response to the report submitted by the MCHK and its operational needs in order to ensure that the mechanism keeps pace with the times and meets the needs of society.

The bureau today added that it will formulate detailed proposals to amend the ordinance with reference to the Ombudsman's views and its report.

The bureau outlined that the amendment aims to enable the MCHK and its secretariat to discharge their duties of upholding doctors' professional conduct and continuously enhance medical professional standards more effectively under the principle of professional autonomy.

The Legislative Council’s Panel on Health Services will be briefed by the bureau shortly on the proposed directions and enhancement proposals for the ordinance, with a target of introducing an amendment bill into LegCo in the first half of this year.

As to other recommendations made by the Ombudsman concerning the administrative arrangements of the MCHK and its secretariat, the DH said it will invite the MCHK to review and refine the existing arrangements based on the recommendations.

The department added that it will strengthen communication with the MCHK regarding the secretariat's overall performance of administrative support, staffing and resource requirements, as well as secretariat staff’s performance management to enhance its operational efficiency.

The DH stressed that the medical profession in Hong Kong has all along upheld the principle of professional autonomy.

It noted that the Government will assist the MCHK in discharging its statutory duties through legislative amendments, and other administrative and resource support, thereby further enhancing the professional standards and conduct of doctors to safeguard the interest of the public and patients.