The attrition rate of public hospital medics in Hong Kong has continued to rise, with nurses recording the most severe shortage, despite a number of initiatives to attract and retain talent at the city’s overloaded hospitals.
In the 12 months leading up to the end of April, 2,925 nurses left the public hospital system, the Hospital Authority announced at a press conference on Thursday. Only 2,467 were hired, leaving 458 unfilled vacancies.
The attrition rate for nurses rose significantly to 10.9 per cent in 2022-23, from 8.2 per cent in the previous 12 years.
Meanwhile, 449 doctors left their positions over the past year, but 528 were hired in the same period. The attrition rate rose from 6.9 per cent in 2021-22, to 7.1 per cent last year.
436 doctors left public hospitals in 2021-22.
Speaking at the press conference, Henry Fan, chairman of the Hospital Authority, said that while public hospitals gained 79 doctors over the past year, they lost 458 nurses, resulting in an “unideal” ratio of doctors to nurses.
Fan added that the authority looked forward to the government giving the green light for non-locally trained nurses to work in the city.
Non-local trained nurses
The Health Bureau proposed amending the Nurse Registration Ordinances in March to launch a new pathway for non-locally trained nurses. However, legislators raised concerns over how to monitor the qualifications of those nurses.
Medical sector lawmaker David Lam asked what would be expected from applicants when it came to work experience and academic requirements. Health secretary Lo Chung-mau said in response that while the amendment to the law would take into account applicants’ academic requirements, nurses’ qualifications were not easily determined based on their medical school rankings, like doctors.
Lo said the the authorities would consult people from the nursing sector to confirm details of the amendment.
The Hospital Authority has launched a series of initiatives to retain medical talents since the attrition rates of medics surged in 2020 as large numbers of people began to leave the city, including extending the retirement age of doctors and nurses to 65 and offering a low-interest home loan scheme to public hospital staff in 2021.
Nine specialist doctors and 70 nurses from the Greater Bay Area worked in Hong Kong’s public hospitals for a month in April under the the Greater Bay Area Healthcare Talents Visiting Programmes launched by the government last year.
The programme, which was said to aim at exchange between mainland and Hong Kong medics, will see another batch of Greater Bay Area doctors and nurses arrive at the city by the end of this year.
Meanwhile, the city is seeking to “snatch” oversea doctors by holding recruitment fairs in UK and Australia. The government amended the Medical Registration Ordinance in 2021 to allow overseas doctors with recognised medical qualifications to register in Hong Kong after practising in the city for over five years.
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