London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Sep 01, 2025

What Hong Kong can learn from Singapore, UK, on welcoming overseas doctors

What Hong Kong can learn from Singapore, UK, on welcoming overseas doctors

Non-locally-trained doctors under the current limited registration scheme face difficulties in continuing specialist training and restricted promotion prospects. These issues must be addressed in the interest of fairness and to meet public needs.

Following the initial reading of the Medical Registration Amendment Bill in the Legislative Council, public discussion of Hong Kong’s doctor shortage
crisis has returned in full force. The bill’s arrival is not without cause.

Latest government projections show Hong Kong faces a shortfall of 1,610 doctors by 2030, even after accounting for the yearly intake of newly graduated locals. Nonetheless, Hong Kong is not alone in its crisis.

Singapore and Britain have also faced doctor shortages but both have made significant strides in closing their gaps. Being flexible for entry into their health care systems has earned them higher doctor-to-population ratios than Hong Kong.

Notably, both systems welcome doctors,regardless of how far they have got in their specialist training. In both countries, non-locally-trained doctors have the option of full or partial specialist training.


Hong Kong’s newly formulated special registration pathway is being proposed for medical practitioners who have yet to start, are looking to continue, or have completed their specialist training.

With the new pathway in mind, how do Hong Kong’s current specialist training opportunities and recognition mechanisms compare with those of Singapore and Britain, and what can we learn from them?

A recently released report by Our Hong Kong Foundation, in which non-locally-trained doctors with limited registration were interviewed, identified difficulties these doctors faced in continuing specialist training and in the recognition of specialist qualifications.

Despite candidates having the necessary qualifications for employment and vacancies in training programmes, they reported that contractual limitations prevented them from accessing continuing specialist training. Various Hong Kong Academy of Medicine colleges, which oversee specialist training, have explicitly denied access to these doctors.


Experienced specialists in Hong Kong fare no better. Those seeking official recognition through the lesser-known Certification for Specialist Registration pathway, which has approved just 49 applications in the past decade, may still not be guaranteed equal career progression opportunities compared to locally trained specialists.

Furthermore, specialists under the limited registration scheme working in the Hospital Authority are only eligible for promotion to the middle rank of associate consultant in a limited number of specialities and are blocked from reaching the highest consultant rank.

The cumulative effect of these training barriers and unfair specialist recognition is that the environment has become patently unwelcoming to doctors hoping to enter and work in Hong Kong’s health system. Luckily, it does not have to be this way as it is not yet set in stone.

We only need to look to Britain or, closer to home, Singapore for guidance on how to offer clear-cut pathways to recognise prior training and equal career progression opportunities for non-locally-trained doctors.

National Health Service staff pay tribute to their colleagues during the national applause for the NHS outside Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, on May 21, 2020. Like Hong Kong, the UK faced a doctor shortage but has done a better job of recruiting medical professionals from overseas.


As recommended in the foundation’s report, to tackle the issue of specialist training, the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM) should be further empowered to mandate higher quotas at each of its colleges, to allow more trainees in each programme.

The academy could further facilitate continued training through integrated contracts, which can provide flexibility for employment and training. The government should offer the academy and the Hospital Authority additional funding to ensure training can be provided to non-locally-trained doctors without affecting opportunities for locally-trained specialists.

To address the issue of specialist recognition, the government, Hospital Authority, and HKAM could combine efforts to ensure non-locally-trained specialists are treated fairly. For equitable career progression, the Hospital Authority should pledge to remove any barriers and allow promotion in all ranks and specialities, and determine progression based on merit.

The government can reference Singapore’s Specialists Accreditation Board and set up a similar independent body, with international experts, that is responsible for specialist accreditation and recognition.

Singapore’s board determines the qualifications needed for registration and the training programmes to be recognised. The board does well in explaining the requirements for specialists depending on where they did their training, leaving little room for confusion about the required qualifications.

Specialists also receive equal recognition to their locally-trained counterparts after assessment by the board, thereby giving them equal career progression opportunities. Similarly in Hong Kong, specialists should receive the same entitlements as their locally-trained peers.

Hong Kong, like many places, is facing a serious shortage of doctors, which will only grow worse if nothing is done to tackle the issue. The effects will be felt by people who experience long waiting times for health services.

When we look at the successes of Singapore and Britain in this regard, it’s clear that Hong Kong still has much to do to fix its health care and doctor issues. These other two systems are far from perfect, but their efforts showcase possible solutions to the crisis in our public health system.

We can better serve Hongkongers’ health demands only if we have the doctors to be able to do so. In looking to other places, we can map a way forward and aspire to do better.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Chinese and Indian Leaders Pursue Amity Amid Global Shifts
European Union Plans for Ukraine Deployment
ECB Warns Against Inflation Complacency
Concerns Over North Cyprus Casino Development
Shipping Companies Look Beyond Chinese Finance
Rural Exodus Fueling European Wildfires
China Hosts Major Security Meeting
Chinese Police Successfully Recover Family's Savings from Livestream Purchases
Germany Marks a Decade Since Migrant Wave with Divisions, Success Stories, and Political Shifts
Liverpool Defeat Arsenal 1–0 with Szoboszlai Free-Kick to Stay Top of Premier League
Prince Harry and King Charles to Meet in First Reunion After 20 Months
Chinese Stock Market Rally Fueled by Domestic Investors
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
Ukrainian Nationalist Politician Andriy Parubiy Assassinated in Lviv
Corporate America Cuts Middle Management as Bosses Take On Triple the Workload
Parents Sue OpenAI After Teen’s Death, Alleging ChatGPT Encouraged Suicide
Amazon Faces Lawsuit Over 'Buy' Label on Digital Streaming Content
Federal Reserve Independence Questioned Amid Trump’s Push to Reshape Central Bank
British Politics Faces Tumultuous Autumn After Summer of Rebellions and Rising Farage Momentum
US Appeals Court Rules Against Most Trump-Era Tariffs
UK Sought Broad Access to Apple Users’ Data, Court Filing Reveals
UK Bank Shares Dive Over Potential Tax on Sector
Germany’s Auto Industry Sheds 51,500 Jobs in First Half of 2025 Amid Deepening Crisis
Bruce Willis Relocated Due to Advanced Dementia
French and Korean Nuclear Majors Clash As EU Launches Foreign Subsidy Probe
EU Stands Firm on Digital Rules as Trump Warns of Retaliation
Getting Ready for the 3rd Time in Its History, Germany Approves Voluntary Military Service for Teenagers
Argentine President Javier Milei Evacuated After Stones Thrown During Campaign Event
Denmark Confronts U.S. Diplomat Over Covert Trump-Linked Influence in Greenland
Starmer Should Back Away from ECHR, Says Jack Straw
Trump Demands RICO Charges Against George Soros and Son for Funding Violent Protests
Taylor Swift Announces Engagement to NFL Star Travis Kelce
France May Need IMF Bailout, Warns Finance Minister
Chinese AI Chipmaker Cambricon Posts Record Profit as Beijing Pushes Pivot from Nvidia
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
Ukraine Finally Allows Young Men Aged Eighteen to Twenty-Two to Leave the Country
The Porn Remains, Privacy Disappears: How Britain Broke the Internet in Ten Days
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Welcome to The Definition of Insanity: Germany Edition
Just a reminder, this is Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris.
Spotify’s Strange Move: The Feature Nobody Asked For – Returns
Manhunt in Australia: Armed Anti-Government Suspect Kills Police Officers Sent to Arrest Him
China Launches World’s Most Powerful Neutrino Detector
How Beijing-Linked Networks Shape Elections in New York City
Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska Fled War To US, Stabbed To Death
Elon Musk Sues Apple and OpenAI Over Alleged App Store Monopoly
2 Australian Police Shot Dead In Encounter In Rural Victoria State
Vietnam Evacuates Hundreds of Thousands as Typhoon Kajiki Strikes; China’s Sanya Shuts Down
UK Government Delays Decision on China’s Proposed London Embassy Amid Concerns Over Redacted Plans
A 150-Year Tradition to Be Abolished? Uproar Over the Popular Central Park Attraction
×