Statistics
2015 Health Manpower Survey on Doctors
Key Findings
1. The doctors covered in the 2015 HMS were doctors registered* with the Medical Council of Hong Kong on the resident list† under the Medical Registration Ordinance (Chapter 161) as at the survey reference date – 31.8.2015.
2. The number of doctors covered was 12 982.
3. Of the 12 982 doctors covered, 6 213 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 47.9%. Of the 6 213 responding doctors, 5 591 (90.0%) were economically active‡§ (active) whereas 622 (10.0%) reported to be economically inactive‡║ (inactive) in the local medical profession.
4. Of the 5 591 active doctors, 5 566 (99.6%) were practising in the local medical profession, 10 (0.2%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness, nine (0.2%) were seeking jobs and six (0.1%) believed that work was not available, were waiting to take up a new job or starting business at subsequent date in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey.
5. The survey findings presented below were based on the 5 566 responding doctors practising in the local medical profession as at 31.8.2015. As some questionnaire items had missing responses, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
|
(i) |
Sixty-nine doctors did not indicate their gender. Of the remaining 5 497 active doctors enumerated, 3 771 (68.6%) were male and 1 726 (31.4%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 218. Apart from 78 doctors who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 5 488 active doctors enumerated was 48.0 years. |
|
(ii) |
Distribution by sector of the main job¶ showed that 2 720 (48.9%) active doctors enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by 2 325 (41.8%) in the Hospital Authority, 286 (5.1%) in the Government, 173 (3.1%) in the academic sector and 40 (0.7%) in the subvented sector. |
|
(iii) |
66.7% spent most of their working time on specialist practice, followed by 29.2% on general practice, 2.7% on administration / management and 0.5% on teaching / education. |
|
(iv) |
The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 5 566 active doctors enumerated was 45.0 hours. Among them, 2 418 (43.4%) doctors were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median of 16.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week. |
6. Among the 622 inactive doctors.
|
(i) |
429 doctors reported not practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong and not seeking job in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey. The reasons reported for not seeking job included: 353 (82.3%) were retired, 23 (5.4%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, 22 (5.1%) were working in other professions, 12 (2.8%) were engaged in household duties, etc. |
|
(ii) |
180 doctors reported practising overseas and 13 reported practising in the Mainland. |
* Refers to doctors registered in Part I of the Medical Register maintained by the Medical Council of Hong Kong under the Medical Registration Ordinance (Chapter 161). These included doctors who held Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery issued in Hong Kong (MBBS (HK) / MBChB (CUHK)), Licentiate of Medical Council of Hong Kong (LMCHK) or other overseas qualification registered with the Medical Council of Hong Kong.
† As the 2015 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering all doctors practising in Hong Kong, doctors on the non-resident list of the Medical Register were excluded from the survey.
‡ In the survey, the criteria used in defining economically active / inactive follow those recommended by the International Labour Organisation, which are also being used by the Census and Statistics Department in Hong Kong.
§ "Economically active" doctors comprised all "employed" and "unemployed" doctors. "Employed" doctors referred to those doctors practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, while "unemployed" doctors referred to those doctors who (a) were not practising in the local medical 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 medical profession during the 30 days before the survey.
║ "Economically inactive" doctors comprised the responding doctors who were not practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong during the survey period, but excluding those who had been on leave during the survey period and those who were economically active but "unemployed".
¶ Main job refers to the jobs in which the doctors had spent most of their working time.
| Activity Status of Doctors Covered |
| Notes﹕ | * | Figure refers to the number of responding doctors who (a) were not practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work in the local medical profession during the seven days before the survey; and (c) had sought work in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey. |
| † | Figure refers to the number of responding doctors who (a) were not practising in the medical profession in Hong Kong during the survey period; (b) had been available for work in the local medical profession during the seven days before the survey; and (c) believed that work was not available, were waiting to take up a new job or starting business at subsequent date in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey. | |
| § | Figure refers to the number of responding doctors who were emigrated, undertaking study, etc. |
| Percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding. |