Hong Kong nurse shortage exceeds 10 per cent, minister says
Health minister Lo Chung-mau told lawmakers that nurse vacancies at the Hospital Authority exceed 10 per cent, and the city will face a shortfall of about 6,000 medical staff in 10 to 15 years. He said authorities will boost recruitment as new hospitals open.
The Secretary for Health, Lo Chung-mau, said the Hospital Authority still faces a nurse shortage, with vacancies exceeding 10 per cent, and pledged to step up recruitment as new hospitals come on stream.
Speaking at a Legislative Council welfare panel meeting on Tuesday, Lo said there was no surplus of doctors or nurses, contrary to concerns raised by lawmakers. He noted that medical manpower projections, conducted every three years, show persistent shortages of doctors and nurses across both public and private sectors.
According to the latest projection, Hong Kong will still be short of about 1,400 doctors and 6,900 general nurses by 2035, said DAB lawmaker Chan Wing-kwong. He asked whether the government would review nurse training places to avoid a future oversupply, given that places have risen sharply over the past decade.
Lo said the projections reflect total medical manpower needs across the city, and estimated that about 6,000 public and private medical staff would still be missing in 10 to 15 years.
He added that the Hospital Authority had worked to retain staff, with the public hospital nurse turnover rate falling from a peak of more than 10 per cent to about 5.4 per cent. As new hospitals are completed, the authorities will intensify recruitment efforts, he said.