15.12.2003

Press Statement

Red alert on Employee's Compensation Insurance
for the Staff of Medical and Health Services

  1. Hong Kong Doctors Union is a doctors' Union with 1,800 members mostly in private practice;
  2. We are shocked to learn that, as a result of SARS saga in Hong Kong, the Insurance Industry decides unilaterally to limit or even withdraw any offer of Employee’s Compensation Insurance for healthcare employees starting from 1st January 2004 without prior consultation with the medical profession;
  3. Without Employee’s Compensation Insurance coverage for healthcare employees, the mechanism to safeguard the health of people of Hong Kong, i.e. hospitals, clinics and other health care institutes, would be brought to a standstill immediately in early 2004;
  4. In the name of social responsibility, we urge the Insurance Industry to immediately take every possible step to formulate reasonable premiums to offer Employee’s Compensation Insurance coverage for all healthcare employees. We want to stress that the premium of Employee’s Compensation Insurance for healthcare employees in private clinics should be roughly equal to that for employees of other trades since the incidence rate of SARS among the healthcare employees in private clinics is equal to that of the general population of Hong Kong, i.e. 0.03%;
  5. To safeguard the health of the community, we urge the Government to look into this matter immediately and to see if the Insurer Industry can come up with workable solutions. Failing that and as a last resort to revitalize the Insurance Industry in this aspect of Insurance, we urge the Government in consultation with Workers’ organizations and unions to work out whether it is feasible to cap the amount of Employee’s Compensation as in the case of Singapore.

Contact person: Dr. Yeung Chiu Fat, President, Hong Kong Doctors Union

Pager - 7838 2831

新聞稿

醫護界僱員勞工賠償保險的紅色警號

  1. 香港西醫工會是一個擁有一千八百位西醫的工會組織，會員主要為私人執業醫生。
  2. 我們對保險業在未有諮詢醫療界前，以「沙士」疫症為由，單方面決定自二零零四年一月一日起有限度提供或甚至撤銷對醫療服務人員的勞工保險，感到震驚。
  3. 作為保障全港市民健康的醫療服務人員，在沒有勞工保險賠償下，醫院、診所及其他醫療機構將於二零零四年初無法運作。
  4. 因應社會責任，我們要求保險業立刻盡一切辦法，以合理的保費為醫療界提供勞工保險。由於私人執業診所員工的「沙士」病發率（0.03%）與一般市民相若，因此，我們强烈要求私人執業診所的保費應與其他行業相若。
  5. 為了保障市民大眾的健康，我們要求政府立即介入，並與保險業商討可行方案。若未能達成協議，我們建議政府諮詢勞工界及眾工會對仿效新加坡為勞工賠償設置上限的意見，作為挽救保險業信心的最後處理方案。

聯絡人：香港西醫工會會長楊超發醫生

聯絡電話：7838 2831

二零零三年十二月十五日

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