This Sept 5, 2017 photo shows healthcare professionals at the Queen Mary Hospital in Hong Kong. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government on Friday gazetted a proposed amendment to the Nurses Registration Ordinance that would allow non-locally trained nurses to work in the city.

The Nurses Registration (Amendment) Bill 2023 aims to create new pathways for admitting eligible non-locally trained nurses to alleviate the shortage in the public healthcare system and the social welfare sector, according to an HKSAR government statement.

Hong Kong’s public healthcare sector has been facing a brain drain over the years, with the attrition rates of registered nurses and enrolled nurses reaching 11.2 percent and 14.8 percent respectively in the Department of Health, and 9.1 percent and 12.8 percent respectively in the Hospital Authority for 2021 and 2022.

Over 80 organizations and groups in the medical, healthcare and social welfare sectors and the Legislative Council Panel on Health Services supported the proposal during consultations conducted by the HKSAR government from March to June

"As it takes time to train local nurses, we need to tap non-local manpower sources as far as possible to address the pressing manpower problem,” a spokesman for the Health Bureau was quoted as saying in the statement.

He said the admission of non-locally trained healthcare professionals will not compromise professional standards and these nurses must possess a qualification that is broadly comparable to any recognized local nursing training program. They must also be qualified as a practicing nurse in their place of origin with relevant nursing or clinical work experience.

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“The Nursing Council of Hong Kong will process applications in strict accordance with the relevant criteria to ensure that the applicants meet certain professional standards," the spokesman said.

Under the bill, the three new pathways for admitting non-locally trained nurses to practice in Hong Kong include limited registration/enrolment.

This means admitting non-locally trained nurses who are capable of serving in specified settings in the public healthcare sector and the social welfare sector to meet the service demand but they “cannot migrate to full registration/enrolment.”

Under special registration/enrolment, they can be admitted in various clinical settings in the clinics and hospitals under the DH and the HA, and have the potential to formally join the local nursing profession.

Nurses under special registration/enrolment employed on a full-time basis for a certain period and assessed by their employing institutions to have performed satisfactorily and competently “will be eligible to migrate to full registration/enrolment without having to take the Licensing Examination”, according to the statement.

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The third new pathway involves temporary registration/enrolment which would enable nurses from other places to perform short-term academic exchanges and clinical demonstrations in Hong Kong for no more than 14 days. They cannot migrate to full registration/enrolment.

Over 80 organizations and groups in the medical, healthcare and social welfare sectors and the Legislative Council Panel on Health Services supported the proposal during consultations conducted by the HKSAR government from March to June, according to the statement. 

The bill will be introduced into the LegCo for scrutiny on Dec 13, it added.