Hospital Authority sets up committee to reform its governance

Hospital Authority chairman Henry Fan Hung-ling said on Saturday that the authority has fully accepted the recommendations put forth by a review committee to reform its governance and structure.

He also said a new high-level Governance and Structure Reform Committee, emphasized the overseeing to implement the report's suggestions in hope of fostering innovative thinking through collective wisdom.

The move came after the Review Committee on the Management of the Public Hospital System, which was set up months ago after a series of incidents, set out 31 recommendations for enhancing the HA's governance and structure to provide better and safer healthcare services.

Fan told a radio program this morning that the authority is mulling introducing a reward and penalty system.

He believes that in cases of minor medical incidents, actions like issuing warning letters could be considered. For repeated poor performance of up to two or three times, a one-year suspension of pay increments could be considered. Conversely, exceptional performance could be rewarded with additional pay increments.

He said the authority's pay structure aligns with the civil service and acknowledged flexibility in terms of pay increments. However, he said the implementation of such practices would require government approval.

Fan also highlighted that a series of retention measures were already in place, resulting in a decreased doctors' turnover rate to around 5 percent and nurses' turnover rate to about 8 percent.