Hong Kong Invites Foreign-Trained Doctors to Slash Wait Times for Special-Needs Assessments

Hong Kong, like many regions and countries, has a shortage of doctors and health professionals. There are many reasons for this, and there are many proposed plans to solve this problem. One reason for the shortage is that foreign-trained doctors-- even graduates from the top medical schools around the world like Stanford or Oxford-- are required to pass an extremely competitive exam and do an internship in Hong Kong in order to practice in Hong Kong.

The result, particularly in the public hospitals, is that there is a very long wait for non-emergency treatments. So even though early intervention and treatment for children with special education needs are so crucial, it can take well over a year for a child to be assessed by a government doctor in order to qualify for government-funded treatment and public schools for special needs education.

There has been a long debate as to how to shorten the wait for special needs assessments. The government’s plan is to welcome foreign-trained doctors. This is controversial because there are many stakeholders such as Hong Kong-trained doctors who may not think this is fair, and there is always concern that the standards of foreign-trained doctors are not as high, or perhaps that this is merely a ploy for the government to reduce spending by inviting foreign doctors who are more willing to work in public hospitals. As with all healthcare policy debates, this one is also ‘complicated’.

Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, recently defended this plan by arguing that special education needs (SEN) child assessment would be a major beneficiary of the plan. For example, 40% of the jobs in that area are currently vacant. With foreign doctors allowed in, the wait-time should be shortened significantly, and children should be able to receive treatment and be provided with the appropriate education much more quickly.

I know from my brother Andy’s experience that the wait for a government specialist for such so-called ‘non-urgent’ appointments is indeed over one year. So I am hopeful that the government’s plan will be successful. It’s simply unacceptable for a wealthy government to deprive critical intervention for special needs children when the evidence for the benefits for early intervention are so widely accepted.