Physiotherapists urge govt to expedite legislative amendment to green light referral-free physiotherapy

A physiotherapists’ group on Thursday urged the SAR government to speed up a legislative amendment to allow practitioners to directly treat patients without needing a doctor’s referral, which they said could reduce pressure on Hong Kong’s health system.  

President of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association, Marco Pang Yiu-chung, said the city’s Physiotherapists Board has already approved a proposal regarding referral-free physiotherapy, outlining the restrictions on physiotherapists when treating patients without referrals.  

Pang said one of the restrictions is that there’s a treatment duration limit for those people who don’t have a preexisting diagnosis, limiting them from receiving referral-free physiotherapy within 30 calendar days, or 10 physiotherapy visits, whichever occurs earlier.  

Patients who want physiotherapy treatments beyond the said period will need to go to a doctor to obtain a referral.  

Meanwhile, patients were not allowed to receive treatment for the same injury within half a year without a referral.  

Separately, physiotherapists must also have at least 2,000 hours of post-graduate clinical experience to provide direct physiotherapy service.  

Pang said the Supplementary Medical Professions Council has discussed the proposal in the last month, with no objections noted during the meeting.  

He expected the legislative amendment could be completed within this year.