Statistics
2014 Health Manpower Survey on Chinese Medicine Practitioners
Key Findings
1. The Chinese medicine practitioners covered in the 2014 HMS were Chinese medicine practitioners registered* with the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong or entered on the list of listed Chinese medicine practitioners maintained by the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance (Chapter 549) as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2014.
2. The number of Chinese medicine practitioners covered was 9 491.
3. Of the 9 491 Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 6 726 (70.9%) were registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 63 (0.7%) were Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and 2 702 (28.5%) were listed Chinese medicine practitioners.
4. Of the 9 491 Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 2 542 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 26.8%. Analysed by the type of Chinese medicine practitioners, the response rate of registered Chinese medicine practitioners was 31.0%, while that of Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and listed Chinese medicine practitioners were 33.3% and 16.1% respectively.
Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners
5. Of the 2 087 responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 1 853 (88.8%) were economically active†‡ (active) whereas 234 (11.2%) reported to be economically inactive†§ (inactive) in the local Chinese medicine profession.
6. Of the 1 853 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 1 812 (97.8%) were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 18 (1.0%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, 17 (0.9%) were seeking jobs and six (0.3%) believed that work was not available, were starting business at subsequent date or expecting to return to their original jobs in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey.
7. The survey findings presented below were based on the 1 812 responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014. As some questionnaires had missing responses, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
| (i) | Three registered Chinese medicine practitioner did not indicate gender. Of the remaining 1 809 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 1 197 (66.2%) were male and 612 (33.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 196. Apart from 22 registered Chinese medicine practitioners who did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 1 790 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 58.0 years. | |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job‖ showed that 1 571 (86.7%) were working in the private sector, followed by 86 (4.7%) in the Hospital Authority, 83 (4.6%) in the subvented sector and 47 (2.6%) in the Government and academic sectors. |
| * | Includes all registered Chinese medicine practitioners and Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration. |
| † | 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" registered Chinese medicine practitioners comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners. "Employed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those registered Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" registered Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those registered Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine 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 Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| § | "Economically inactive" registered Chinese medicine practitioners comprised the registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were not practising in the Chinese medicine 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". |
| ‖ | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the registered Chinese medicine practitioners had spent most of their working time. |
| (iii) | 73.3% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 13.9% on bone-setting and 9.2% on acupuncture. | |
| (vi) | The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 812 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 42.0 hours. 213 (11.8%) registered Chinese medicine practitioners were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 12.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
8. Among the 234 inactive registered Chinese medicine practitioners:
| (i) | 28 registered Chinese medicine practitioners reported practising in the Mainland and 11 reported practising overseas. | |
| (ii) | 195 registered Chinese medicine practitioners reported not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 76 (39.0%) were working in other professions, 57 (29.2%) were retired, 22 (11.3%) were engaged in household duties and 18 (9.2%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, etc. |
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Chart A : Activity Status of Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered |
Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration
1. Of the 21 responding Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration, all were economically active*† (active) in the local Chinese medicine profession.
2. The 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration were all practising in the local Chinese medicine profession.
3. The survey findings presented below were based on the 21 responding Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014. As some questionnaires had missing responses, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
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Chart B : Activity Status of Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration Covered |
| (i) | Of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated, 15 (71.4%) were male and six (28.6%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 250. The median age of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 62.0 years. | |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job‡ showed that 12 (57.1%) were working in the academic sector, followed by six (28.6%) in the Hospital Authority and three (14.3%) in the subvented sector. |
| * | 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" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration. "Employed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration referred to those Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration referred to those Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine 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 Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| ‡ | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration had spent most of their working time. |
| (iii) | 57.1% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 19.0% on acupuncture and 14.3% on bone-setting. | |
| (iv) | The median hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 21 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 40.0 hours. Two (9.5%) Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration was required to undertake on-call duty (excluding meal breaks). |
Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners
1. Of the 434 responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners, 336 (77.4%) were economically active*† (active) whereas 98 (22.6%) reported to be economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local Chinese medicine profession.
2. Of the 336 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners, 328 (97.6%) were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, five (1.5%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, two (0.6%) were seeking jobs and one (0.3%) believed that work was not available in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey.
3. The survey findings presented below were based on the 328 responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2014. As some questionnaires had missing responses, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
| (i) | Of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 265 (80.8%) were male and 63 (19.2%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 421. Apart from three listed Chinese medicine practitioners did not indicate age, the median age of the remaining 325 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 62.0 years. | |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job§ showed that 323 (98.5%) were working in the private sector. | |
| (iii) | 51.8% spent most of their working time on general practice, followed by 30.5% on bone-setting and 10.4% on acupuncture. | |
| (iv) | The median hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 328 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 40.0 hours. 33 (10.1%) listed Chinese medicine practitioners were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 10.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
| * | 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" listed Chinese medicine practitioners comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners. "Employed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those listed Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" listed Chinese medicine practitioners referred to those listed Chinese medicine practitioners who (a) were not practising in the Chinese medicine 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 Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| ‡ | "Economically inactive" listed Chinese medicine practitioners comprised the listed Chinese medicine practitioners who were not practising in the Chinese medicine 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". |
| § | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the listed Chinese medicine practitioners had spent most of their working time. |
4. Among the 98 inactive listed Chinese medicine practitioners:
| (i) | Six listed Chinese medicine practitioners reported practising in the Mainland and six reported practising overseas. | |
| (ii) | 86 listed Chinese medicine practitioners reported not practising in the Chinese medicine profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 35 (40.7%) were retired, 30 (34.9%) were working in other professions, six (7.0%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need and three (3.5%) were engaged in household duties, etc. |
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Chart C : Activity Status of Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered |