Hong Kong’s medical watchdog has said a target time frame for handling complaints will not be necessary as it presented its rebuttal against a government proposal that includes major reforms to its operations, disciplinary sentencing, internal supervision and membership make-up.
In a written submission to the Legislative Council’s bills committee on the medical registration amendment bill, dated Tuesday and uploaded to the Legco website the next day, the Medical Council’s chairwoman Professor Grace Tang Wai-king said a dedicated working group had been established to study the details of the bill and assess its implications for the watchdog’s operations.
Among the government’s proposed amendments was requiring the watchdog to make public the target time frames for specific steps in its complaints procedure, and set up milestone dates for submissions of documents and inquiries.
“There is no need to stipulate the requirement for the Medical Council of Hong Kong to set target time frames for specific steps in the law,” the council stated in the submission.
“Instead, this can be handled administratively by [the council] as [has been] the practice of government departments and other statutory bodies.”
