Circular No. 2114, 8th March 2002
Hong Kong is now facing economic recession. The HKSAR government is trying her best to achieve a more balanced budget by various means. Our Union is now facing the same problem of budge deficit. Your Council will try to solve the problem under the advice of the Finance Committee and, of course, with your input.
As celebration of the new year of the Horse ended, matters affecting our Profession came pouring in. In this month, I try to highlight some matters from the Medical Council for your attention.
It was said that previous versions of the Professional Code and Conduct issued by the Medical Council have confused some practitioners. According to the judgment of two recent cases in the Court of Appeal, the Medical Council will promulgate that “Any professional behaviour/practice falling short of the standard expected of a registered medical practitioner may be regarded as misconduct in a professional respect.” At the end of the day, it is up to the Medical Council to judge whether a medical practitioner has fallen short of the standard expected amongst doctors in the given circumstances and whether the falling short of standard would amount to misconduct in a professional aspect.
Amidst the objection from three Council Members including myself, the Medical Council has decided as from October 2004 onwards, CME will be a requirement for all doctors in Hong Kong. To ensure compliance with CME by doctors, every doctor – non-specialists and specialists alike – would be warned by the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) if he/she cannot score 90 CME points by the end of a 3 year CME cycle and would be struck off the medical register if he/she cannot rectify his/her position by acquiring 120 CME points by the end of one year after the subject 3 year CME cycle, in other words, a total of 120 CME points in four years. Some MCHK members suggested in the MCHK Policy Meeting on 6th March 2002 that in order to be fair to all, those specialists who are also in general practice should also undertake CME for non-specialists, or else, their practice should be restricted to their respective specialty. This important issue will be discussed in the coming Policy Meeting of the MCHK in April 2002. In the meantime, I suggest members to write either to this Council or to the MCHK to express their opinions on this important subject. Certainly, I would suggest the Medical Council to organize an Open Forum for you to air your views.
Sanctioned by the LegCo Panel on Health Services, the Professional Performance Committee is going to be established. Following on our letter dated 6th March 2001 to the Medical Council elaborating the grave concern of many of our members on the proposed PPC, we have submitted a second letter on 1st March 2002 to the Chairman of the Medical Council (Please see enclosed Circular No. 2110) expressing our concerns on such an establishment. Our utmost concern is that clinical audit should not be conducted by the PPC as the power to search and seize rests with other statutory bodies that deal with serious offences by doctors. We do believe a user friendly approach to our colleagues is the most appropriate measure to upgrade the standard and image of our profession.
The use of the title “女西醫” is now acceptable to the Medical Council. I am sure this will remove the worry of many female colleagues whose stationeries and signboards have included such title.
Due to space limit, I will report on the progress of our Trade Union and the Public Private Interface in the next issue of President’s Message.
Dr. Yeung Chiu Fat Henry
面臨經濟衰退，特區政府正努力去嘗試平衡收支。同樣地香港西醫聯會亦有超出預算的問題。會董會將努力按照大家的意見及經濟小組的建議去解決問題。
馬年慶祝剛終止，關於我們專業的問題接踵而來。這一期我會跟大家講一些醫務委員會的事情。
醫委會以前頒佈的專業守則曾被形容會令一些醫生感到迷惑，醫委會將根據上訴庭最近兩宗個案，頒佈「任何專業的行為/行醫方式，未能達到一個註冊醫生應有的水平便有可能被認定為專業失德」。到了最後仍然是由醫委會去決定醫生於某種情形下是否未能達到專業應有的水平，和是否嚴重到形成專業失德。
縱使我和其他兩位委員反對，醫委會仍鐵定了由2004年10月開始，全港西醫均要參與CME。為確保醫生達到CME的要求，如三年內醫生未能取得90 CME分，醫委會會給予警告。若隨著那一年內不能夠做足120 CME分、亦即是總共在4 年之內不能夠取得120 CME分，即不論是否專科醫生均要除牌。為著公平起見，有委員於2002年3月6日的醫委會政策會議中，建議若專科醫生也要為普通科病人診症時，亦應該參與非專科醫生的CME；否則就要限制他們只能為自己專科的病人診症。這個重要的建議將列入2002年4月份醫委會的政策會議議程中。暫時，請各會員去信香港西醫聯會會董會或醫委會就這重要問題發表意見。當然，我會建議醫委會召開一個公開論壇，讓大家發揮意見。
立法會衛生事務委員會既已批准，專業表現小組的設立事在必行。繼2001年3月6日給醫委會詳述我們會員對所建議的專業表現小組極之關注的信後，我們更於2002年3月1日再去信醫委會主席（請參閱會員通訊2110號）再次表達我們對這組織的關注。我們最關注的是臨床審核應該不是專業表現小組的工作，而搜查審核的權力是屬於其他政府部門，用以對待犯嚴重罪行的醫生。我們深信諄諄善誘去對待我們同業是提升業界水平與聲望的最適當方法。
「女西醫」的稱號現已為醫委會接納。已經把女西醫的名銜印在文具和招牌的女同業大可放心。
空間有限，我將於下期會長通訊再向大家報告我們工會的進展和公共與私家醫療合作。
楊超發醫生
C2114c2002/Othercir(9)