HK's Public Healthcare Sector Faces Pressing Manpower Issues

Exodus of talent, ageing population contribute to longstanding problem

- Magdalene Fung

HONG KONG - News of the abrupt suspension of services at a public hospital department in Hong Kong has cast the spotlight on the manpower crunch facing the city's healthcare sector.

The authorities on Feb 7 said the Hong Kong Children's Hospital in Kai Tak had temporarily shut its ear, nose and throat department, referring over 500 patients to other public healthcare facilities.

This came after one doctor resigned and another took sick leave in the department's three-member team.

Amid an outcry over the Hong Kong government's medical manpower planning, the Hospital Authority (HA), which manages the city's public hospitals, said it expected to gradually resume the department's services in the second half of 2025 after hiring more doctors.

Hong Kong's public healthcare sector has faced a shortage of doctors and other medical personnel for the past two decades.

But while the government has made progress in boosting hiring and adopting other policies to alleviate the problem, it has become even more pressing in recent years with an exodus of talent amid a rapidly ageing population. A crisis looms if the city fails to adequately address these manpower gaps.

Anecdotally, patients interviewed by The Sunday Times say they faced long waiting times or less-than-ideal service levels at public hospitals given the labour crunch.

Mrs Anna Lai's elderly mother left Ruttonjee Hospital's accident and emergency (A&E) department without receiving treatment after a six-hour wait one night in December 2024.

The 80-year-old woman had sustained multiple injuries from a fall that night.

"My mother was in pain but we left the emergency department after waiting for more than five or six hours," Mrs Lai, a project coordinator in her 50s, told ST.

Her mother eventually received treatment at a private clinic the following day, Mrs Lai said.