Statistics
2017 Health Manpower Survey on Chinese Medicine Practitioners
Key Findings
1. The Chinese medicine practitioners covered in the 2017 Health Manpower Survey (the survey) 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 of 31.8.2017.
2. The number of Chinese medicine practitioners covered was 9 612 [6 951 (72.3%) were registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 40 (0.4%) were Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and 2 621 (27.3%) were listed Chinese medicine practitioners.]
3. Of the 9 612 Chinese medicine practitioners covered, 2 380 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 24.8%. Analysed by the type of Chinese medicine practitioners, the response rate of registered Chinese medicine practitioners was 28.3%, while that of Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration and listed Chinese medicine practitioners were 47.5% and 15.0% respectively.
Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners
4. Of the 1 969 responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners, 1 768 (89.8%) were economically active†‡ (active) and 201 (10.2%) were economically inactive†§ (inactive) in the local Chinese medicine profession.
5. Of the 1 768 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 1 728 (97.7%) were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, 15 (0.8%) were seeking jobs, 11 (0.6%) were having temporary sickness, and 14 (0.8%) were starting business at subsequent date, waiting to take up a new job, expecting to return to their original jobs or believed that work was not available in the local Chinese medicine profession during the 30 days before the survey.
6. The survey findings presented below were based on the 1 728 responding registered Chinese medicine practitioners who were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.
| (i) | Two active registered Chinese medicine practitioners did not indicate the gender. Of the remaining 1 726 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 1 059 (61.4%) were male and 667 (38.6%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 159. Apart from 12 registered Chinese medicine practitioners who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 1 716 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 58.0 years. |
| * | 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". |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job* showed that the largest proportion 1 469 (85.0%) were working in the private sector, followed by 97 (5.6%) in the subvented sector, 80 (4.6%) in the Hospital Authority, 64 (3.7%) in the academic sector and 13 (0.8%) in the Government. | |
| (iii) | Of the 1 728 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 81.6% spent most of their working time on clinical general practice, whilst 9.5% and 5.6% on clinical bone-setting and clinical acupuncture respectively. | |
| (iv) | The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 1 728 active registered Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 42.0 hours. Among them, 237 (13.7%) registered 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. |
8. Among the 201 inactive registered Chinese medicine practitioners:
| (i) | 172 (85.6%) 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: 71 (41.3%) were working in other professions, 54 (31.4%) were retired, 21 (12.2%) wanted to take rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need and 18 (10.5%) were engaged in household duties. | |
| (ii) | 25 (12.4%) registered Chinese medicine practitioners reported practising in the Mainland and four (2.0%) reported practising overseas. |
| * | Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the registered Chinese medicine practitioners had spent most of their working time. |
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Chart A : Activity Status of Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered |
Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration
1. Of the 19 responding Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration, all were economically active*† (active) and were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession.
2. The survey findings presented below were based on the 19 responding Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.
| (i) | Of the 19 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated, 16 (84.2%) were male and three (15.8%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 533. The median age of the 19 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 63.0 years. | |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job ‡ showed that all Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration were working in the academic sector. | |
| (iii) | Of the 19 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated, 63.2% spent most of their working time on teaching, whilst 26.3%, 5.3% and 5.3% on clinical general practice, research and clinical bone-setting respectively. | |
| (iv) | The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 19 active Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration enumerated was 39.0 hours. Among them, three (15.8%) Chinese medicine practitioners with limited registration was required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty). |
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Chart B : Activity Status of Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited Registration Covered |
Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners
1. Of the 392 responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners, 309 (78.8%) were economically active*† (active) and 83 (21.2%) were economically inactive*‡ (inactive) in the local Chinese medicine profession (See Chart C).
2. Of the 309 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 293 (94.8%) were practising in the local Chinese medicine profession, four (1.3%) were having temporary sickness, two (0.6%) were seeking jobs and ten (3.2%) were waiting to take up a new job, expecting to return to their original jobs, starting business at subsequent date or 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 293 responding listed Chinese medicine practitioners practising in the local Chinese medicine profession as at 31.8.2017. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.
| (i) | Of the 293 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 223 (76.1%) were male and 70 (23.9%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 319. Apart from five listed Chinese medicine practitioners who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 288 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 65.0 years. | |
| (ii) | Distribution by sector of the main job§ showed that 285 (97.3%) were working in the private sector. | |
| (iii) | Of the 293 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated, 53.2% spent most of their working time on clinical general practice, whilst 29.4% and 9.2% on clinical bone-setting and clinical acupuncture respectively. | |
| (iv) | The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 293 active listed Chinese medicine practitioners enumerated was 40.0 hours. Among them, 42 (14.3%) listed 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. |
4. Among the 83 inactive listed Chinese medicine practitioners:
| (i) | 72 (86.7%) 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: 37 (51.4%) were retired and 21 (29.2%) were working in other professions. | |
| (ii) | Nine (10.8%) listed Chinese medicine practitioners reported practising in the Mainland and two (2.4%) reported practising overseas. |
| * | 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. |
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Chart C : Activity Status of Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners Covered |