Hong Kong doctors are threatening to take action to force the Hospital Authority to do something about their heavy workload and poor morale.
Many doctors have left because of their working conditions. Dr Loletta So Kit-ying, president of the Public Doctors' Association, said the union was considering a 'sit-in or work-to-rule protest'.
In response to the threat by the biggest union of public doctors, the authority announced eight emergency measures to cope with the crisis.
The authority said it will create senior posts for junior doctors, hire part-time retired doctors to work at outpatient clinics, and redeploy staff from other specialities to help the overloaded internal medicine departments. It will also hire more health care assistants to take blood samples from patients, employ more clerical staff and provide special allowances to doctors on night shifts.
But it is unclear whether the new measures are part of a HK$100 million package to stop the brain drain of nurses and doctors. The package was adopted to create more senior posts and hire more trainees.
