Department of Health - Health Manpower Survey

1 The doctors covered in the 2018 Health Manpower Survey on Doctors (HMS-DR) 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 of 31 August 2018, with exclusion of those subsequently found to have passed away on or before the survey reference date.

3 Of the 13 993 doctors covered, 6 246 responded to the HMS-DR, giving an overall response rate of 44.6%. Among the respondents, 5 626 (90.1%) were economically active^‡§ (active) whereas 620 (9.9%) reported to be economically inactive^‡║ (inactive) in the local medical profession (See Chart) .

4 Of the 5 626 active doctors enumerated, 5 597 (99.5%) were practising in the local medical profession, 13 (0.2%) were seeking jobs, ten (0.2%) had not been available for work because of temporary sickness and six (0.1%) believed that work was not available, starting business in the local medical profession at subsequent date, expecting to return to their original jobs in the local medical profession or waiting to take up a new job in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey.

5 The survey findings presented below were based on the 5 597 responding doctors practising in the local medical profession as at 31 August 2018. The percentages presented below may not add up to 100% due to missing responses or rounding.

(i) A total of 81 doctors did not indicate their gender. Among the remaining 5 516 active doctors enumerated who were practising in the local medical profession, 3 679 (66.7%) were male and 1 837 (33.3%) were female, giving an overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) of 200. Apart from 89 doctors who did not indicate their age, the median age of the remaining 5 508 active doctors enumerated was 50.0 years.

(ii) Distribution by sector of the main job^¶of those enumerated showed that 2 767 (49.4%) active doctors enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by 2 336 (41.7%) in the Hospital Authority, 285 (5.1%) in the Government, 157 (2.8%) in the academic sector and 39 (0.7%) in the subvented sector.

(iii) 3 666 (65.5%) spent most of their working time on specialist practice, followed by 1 692 (30.2%) on general practice, 175 (3.1%) on administration / management and 23 (0.4%) on teaching / education.

(iv) The median number of hours of work (excluding meal breaks) per week of the 5 597 active doctors enumerated was 44.0 hours. Among them, 2 317 (41.4%) doctors were required to undertake on-call duty, with a median of 17.0 hours of on-call duty (excluding normal duty) per week.

(i) 456 (73.5%) 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: 371 (81.4%) were retired, 41 (9.0%) wanted to take a rest / had no motive to work / had no financial need, 27 (5.9%) were working in other professions, and 13 (2.9%) were engaged in household duties.

(ii) 149 (24.0%) doctors reported practising overseas and 15 (2.4%) reported practising in the Mainland.

*	Refer 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 include doctors who hold the qualification of 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 qualifications registered with the Medical Council of Hong Kong.
†	As the 2018 HMS-DR 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 followed 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, 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.

Statistics