Department of Health - Health Manpower Survey

1.1 The physiotherapists covered in the 2017 Health Manpower Survey on physiotherapists (HMS-PT) were physiotherapists registered with the Physiotherapists Board of Hong Kong under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance (Chapter 359) as at the survey reference date of 31 March 2017.

1.3 Of the 2 941 physiotherapists covered, 1 473 responded to the HMS-PT, giving an overall response rate of 50.1%. Among the respondents, 1 340 (91.0%) were economically active ^*† (active) and 133 (9.0%) were economically inactive ^*‡ (inactive) in the local physiotherapy profession (Chart A) .

1.4 Of the 1 340 active physiotherapists enumerated, 1 336 (99.7%) were practising in the local physiotherapy profession, two (0.1%) were seeking jobs and two (0.1%) were starting business at subsequent date or waiting to take up a new job in the local physiotherapy profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 1 336 responding physiotherapists who were practising in the local physiotherapy profession as at 31 March 2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.

1.5 Of the 133 inactive physiotherapists enumerated, 53 (39.8%) physiotherapists reported practising overseas / in the Mainland and 80 (60.2%) physiotherapists reported not practising in the physiotherapy profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local physiotherapy profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A) . Among the 80 inactive physiotherapists who reported not seeking job, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs included: 43 (53.8%) were working in other professions, 13 (16.3%) were engaged in household duties, nine (11.3%) were retired, and eight (10.0%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need.

* In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive followed those recommended by the International Labour Organization, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong.

† "Economically active" physiotherapists comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" physiotherapists. "Employed" physiotherapists referred to those physiotherapists practising in the physiotherapy profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" physiotherapists referred to those physiotherapists who (a) were not practising in the local physiotherapy profession during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had sought work in the local physiotherapy profession during the 30 days before the survey.

‡ "Economically inactive" physiotherapists comprised the physiotherapists who were not practising in the physiotherapy profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, but excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and who were economically active but "unemployed".

Note:

Figure refers to the number of responding physiotherapists who (a) were not practising in the physiotherapy profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) had sought work in the local physiotherapy profession during the 30 days before the survey.

†

Figure refers to the number of responding physiotherapists who (a) were not practising in the physiotherapy profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had not been available for work during the seven days before the survey; AND (c) were starting business at subsequent date or waiting to take up a new job in the local physiotherapy profession during the 30 days before the survey.

‡

Figure refers to the number of responding physiotherapists who reported undertaking study or emigrated.

Percentage may not add up to 100% due to rounding.

1.6 A total of eight physiotherapists did not indicate the gender. Among the remaining 1 328 active physiotherapists enumerated, 563 (42.4%) were male and 765 (57.6%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 73.6. Apart from 13 physiotherapists who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 1 323 active physiotherapists enumerated was 39.0 years. The median age of the active female physiotherapists enumerated was 38.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 39.0 years.

1.7 The responding active physiotherapists were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs*. Distribution by sector for the main job showed that 504 (37.7%) were working in the Hospital Authority, followed by 503 (37.6%) in the private sector, 257 (19.2%) in the subvented sector, 49 (3.7%) in the academic sector and 21 (1.6%) in the Government.

1.8 The median ages of the active physiotherapists enumerated were highest for those working in the Government and the academic sector (47.0 years), followed by the subvented sector (39.0 years), the private sector (38.0 years) and the Hospital Authority (36.0 years).

1.9 Of the 1 336 active physiotherapists enumerated, 87.6% spent most of their working time on rehabilitation, whilst 6.0%, 2.8% and 2.5% spent most of their working time on administration / management, teaching and primary health care† respectively.

1.10 The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 336 active physiotherapists enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 88 (6.6%) physiotherapists were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 3.5 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

1.11 Of the 1 336 active physiotherapists enumerated, 67.3% held Bachelor’s Degree and 22.8% held Diploma / Professional Diplomas as their earliest basic qualifications.

1.12 Of the 1 336 active physiotherapists enumerated, 1 197 (89.6%) had received / were receiving additional training. Of the 1 197 active physiotherapists with additional training, 32 (2.7%) had not yet completed the additional training, 772 (64.5%) held Master’s Degree, 121 (10.1%) held Certificate and 112 (9.4%) held Diploma as the highest qualification.

^* Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the physiotherapists had spent most of their working time.

^† Primary health care referred to the work such as health education, health promotion, etc. or the work involving patient care in the primary care setting.

1.13 Of the 1 197 active physiotherapists enumerated who had received / were receiving additional training, 514 (42.9%) had received / were receiving training in one field only. Among them, 29.2% had received / were receiving training in acupuncture, 13.4% in sports physiotherapy / sports and health sciences, 11.5% for each field in manipulative physiotherapy and rehabilitation sciences / studies, 10.3% in rehabilitation, 7.6% in physiotherapy, 6.6% in health care management / health services management and 6.4% in gerontology.

1.14 Among the 1 197 active physiotherapists enumerated who had received / were receiving additional training, some of them selected more than one field of additional training. The total number of count of active physiotherapists who had received / were receiving additional training was 2 443, in which 29.8% had received / were receiving training in acupuncture, 15.8% in manipulative physiotherapy, 13.9% in sports physiotherapy / sports and health sciences, 8.5% in physiotherapy, 8.1% in rehabilitation sciences / studies, 5.9% in health care management / health services management and 5.4% for each field in gerontology and rehabilitation.

1.15 Regarding Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities, 838 (62.7%) of the active physiotherapists reported that they had participated in CPD activities in 2017, 465 (34.8%) reported no participation in any CPD activities, whilst 33 (2.5%) did not report whether they had participated in any CPD activities or not. Among the 838 active physiotherapists who had participated in CPD activities, the distribution of CPD credits attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 10 credits (30.8%), 11 to 20 credits (34.6%), 21 to 30 credits (16.5%), 31 to 40 credits (5.6%) and more than 40 credits (12.5%).

2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2017 HMS-PT with those surveys conducted before 2004 should be made with caution as the survey methods and reference dates had been changed.

2.2 Since the enactment of the Physiotherapists (Registration and Disciplinary Procedure) Regulation (Chapter 359J) in July 1999, it is mandatory for a person practising physiotherapy in Hong Kong to hold a valid practising certificate. Between 2000 and 2017, the number of registered physiotherapists increased from 1 245 to 2 941 (Chart B) .

2.3 The sex ratio (males per 100 females) of active physiotherapists enumerated increased from 46 in 1982 to 82 in 1990 and then decreased to 63 in 2007. The sex ratio (males per 100 females) has increased steadily from 63 in 2007 to 74 in 2017 (Table A) .

Chart B : Number of Registered Physiotherapists Covered by Year (2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017)

Note:

Figure of 2000 refers to the number of physiotherapists registered with the Physiotherapists Board of Hong Kong as at the 1 July 2000, whereas the figures of 2004 to 2017 refer to that as at 31 March of the respective years.

2.4 The mean age of the active physiotherapists enumerated increased from 29.0 years in 1982 to 39.8 years in 2017.

2.5 From 1982 to 1990, the largest proportion of active physiotherapists enumerated was working in the Government, which accounted for about 50% to 60%, and the remaining physiotherapists were working in the subvented, private and academic sectors. Since its setup in 1991 and up till 2011, the Hospital Authority had been the largest working sector covering around 41% to 77% of active physiotherapists enumerated. During the same period as reflected by the surveys from 1992 to 2011, the proportion of active physiotherapists enumerated working in the academic and subvented sectors was at around 10% to 24%, and the proportion working in the Government was below 2%. The proportion of active physiotherapists enumerated working in the private sector gradually increased from 11.8% in 1996 to 37.6% in 2017, while the proportion of active physiotherapists working in the Hospital Authority was 37.7% in 2017.

Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Physiotherapists Enumerated (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2014 and 2017)