'Professionals to probe medical complaints'

Health minister Lo Chung-mau said authorities were considering recruiting more medical professionals to work as investigators of complaints, as part of reforms of the Medical Council’s complaint-handling mechanism.

“We will consider appointing a directorate-level professional colleague to lead the Medical Council Secretariat,” he told a TVB programme on Sunday.

“As for investigators, we will consider the complexity of the case and assign some professionals to serve the role.

“This will make the investigation smoother, because now investigations are being handled by administrative staff who may not be able to handle professional issues quickly.”

Lo expressed confidence that the proposed reform would speed up the complaint-handling process.

He described the reform as "comprehensive, thorough and targeted" in addressing areas that could cause delays.

The secretary for health said an initial screening of complaints used to take an average of 12 months, and the authorities were confident to cut the time by half thanks to the revamp.

He added that the average time needed for carrying out investigations and inquiry of a case could be shortened to around 2.5 years from more than 3.5 years at the moment.

Lo acknowledged that there were delays that should have been avoided in a Medical Council inquiry that took the watchdog 16 years to handle. A paediatrician was found guilty of professional misconduct after a newborn baby developed cerebral palsy.

The health chief also said the Civil Service Bureau would follow up on any misconduct in the administration.

Edited by Edmond Fong ...