Statistics
2015 Health Manpower Survey
Summary of the Characteristics of Doctors Enumerated
I. Doctors with Full Registration Covered
1.1 The doctors covered in the 2015 HMS were doctors fully registered1 with the Medical Council of Hong Kong under the Medical Registration Ordinance (Chapter 161) and who were on the resident list2 as at the survey reference date - 31.8.2015.
1.2 The number of doctors covered was 12 982.
1.3 Of the 12 982 doctors covered, 6 213 responded to the survey, giving an overall response rate of 47.9%. Among the 6 213 responding doctors, 5 591 (90.0%) were economically active3,4 (active) in the local medical profession as at 31.8.2015 and 622 (10.0%) were economically inactive3,5 (inactive) in the local medical profession.
1.4 Of the 5 591 active doctors enumerated, 5 566 (99.6%) were practising in the local medical profession, ten (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 starting business at subsequent date or waiting to take up a new job in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey. The survey results presented in paragraph 1.6 below were based on the 5 566 responding doctors who were practising in the local medical profession as at 31.8.2015. As certain questionnaires contained missing information, percentages presented below may not add up to 100%.
1.5 Of the 622 inactive doctors, 180 (28.9%) reported practising overseas, 13 (2.1%) reported practising in the Mainland and 429 (69.0%) reported not seeking jobs in the local medical profession during the 30 days before the survey (Chart A). Among the 429 inactive doctors who reported not seeking jobs, the main reasons reported for not seeking jobs 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.
1 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.
2 As the 2015 Health Manpower Survey only aimed at covering doctors practising in Hong Kong, doctors on the non-resident list of the Medical Register were excluded from the survey.
3 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.
4 "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.
5 "Economically inactive" doctors comprised the 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 who were "economically active" but "unemployed"
Chart A : Activity Status of Doctors Covered
1.6 A total of 69 doctors did not indicate their gender. Of the remaining 5 497 active doctors enumerated who were practising in the local medical profession, 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. The median age of the active female doctors enumerated was 40.0 years and that of their male counterparts was 51.0 years.
1.7 The responding active doctors enumerated were requested to indicate the characteristics of their main jobs6. Distribution by sector for the main job showed that the largest proportion (48.9%) of active doctors enumerated were working in the private sector, followed by those working in the Hospital Authority (41.8%), the Government (5.1%), the academic sector (3.1%) and the subvented sector (0.7%).
1.8 The median age of the doctors enumerated was 56.0 years for those working in the private sector, followed by 49.0 years for those working in the academic sector, 45.0 years in the Government, 44.0 years in subvented sector and 38.0 years in the Hospital Authority.
1.9 Of the 5 566 active doctors enumerated, 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.
1.10 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%) were required to undertake on-call duty (excluding normal duty), with a median of 16.0 hours on-call duty per week.
1.11 Regarding the average number of consultations / patients encountered per working day, 39.6% of the active doctors enumerated reported to have a range of 20 to 50, 33.5% reported to have less than 20 and 15.9% reported to have more than 50.
1.12 Of the 5 566 active doctors enumerated, most (79.1%) earned a Bachelor’s Degree at a local university, while 12.2% held Bachelor’s Degree issued by overseas institutions. Another 7.7% held the Licentiate of Medical Council of Hong Kong as their basic qualification.
6 Main jobs referred to the jobs in which the doctors had spent most of their working time.
Chart B : Number of Field(s) of Specialty of Specialised Training Received / Being Received by Active Doctors Enumerated
Total number of active doctors enumerated = 5 566
1.13 Of the 5 566 active doctors enumerated, 4 645 (83.5%) had obtained additional post-graduate qualification(s)7. Among those active doctors enumerated who had obtained additional post-graduate qualification, some of them had obtained more than one additional post-graduate qualification. The total number of count of active doctor who had obtained additional qualification was 7 222, of which, 48.3% had been awarded Fellowship / had passed the Exit Examination, 21.2% had obtained a Diploma and 16.8% had been awarded Membership / had passed the Intermediate Examination.
1.14 Of the 5 566 active doctors enumerated, 4 259 (76.5%) had received / were receiving specialised training. Of the 4 259 doctors who had received / were receiving specialised training, 4 148 (74.5%) were trained in one field of the specialised training. Among them, 21.5% were trained / being trained in internal medicine, 12.7% in surgery, 8.9% in paediatrics, 8.6% in family medicine, 8.2% in obstetrics & gynaecology and 6.4% in anaesthesiology.
1.15 Regarding Continuing Medical Education (CME), 4 912 (88.3%) of the active doctors enumeratd revealed that they had participated in CME activities in 2015, 499 (9.0%) had not participated in any CME activities and 155 (2.8%) did not report whether they had participated in any CME activities or not. Among the 4 912 active doctors enumerated who had participated in CME activities, the distribution of CME points attained in the past 12 months was: 1 to 10 points (7.9%), 11 to 20 points (11.0%), 21 to 30 points (22.3%) and 31 points or above (58.8%).
7 Refers to the quotable additional qualification which is acceptable to the Medical Council of Hong Kong.
II. Trend Analysis
2.1 Comparison of findings of the 2015 HMS with those surveys conducted before 2003 should be made with caution as the survey coverage, methods and reference date had been changed.
2.2 The number of doctors with full registration and on resident list increased from 3 487 in 1982 to 12 982 in 2015.
2.3 There was an increasing proportion of female doctors. The overall sex ratio (males per 100 females) showed a decrease from 520 in 1982 to 218 in 2015.
2.4 From 1982 to 1990, the largest proportion of active doctors enumerated was working in the private sector. Together with those working in the Government, they comprised around 80% of all active doctors enumerated. The Hospital Authority was the largest sector in which doctors worked since its set up in 1991 until 2006. The proportion of active doctors enumerated working in the private sector showed a steady increase from 39.1% in 2003 to 48.9% in 2015, and this sector has become the largest sector in which doctors worked since 2007.
Chart C : Number of Doctors with Full Registration and on Resident list Covered by Year (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015)
Table A : Selected Characteristics of Active Doctors Enumerated (1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2015)