Introduction The medical fraternity
is of great virtue, This issue mainly reports the work of the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board (the Practitioners Board) in the past few months, which covers arrangements of the Chinese Medicine Practitioners (CMPs) Licensing Examination, renewal of practising certificates for registered CMPs and Continuing Education in Chinese Medicine and inquiries conducted by the Practitioners Board. Besides, it also reminds CMPs about medical functions under the labour laws, to return the completed questionnaire for health manpower survey conducted by the Department of Health, and to inform the Secretariat of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (the Secretariat) of any changes in their contact information. A registered CMP shall not practise Chinese medicine in Hong Kong unless he/she is the holder of a valid practising certificate. Under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, registered CMPs must fulfill the requirements of continuing education in Chinese medicine prescribed by the Practitioners Board before they can renew their practising certificates. Moreover, the Practitioners Board appeals to all CMPs to participate in continuing education in order to maintain high professional standard and protect health and rights of the general public. The Practitioners Board also remind CMPs of the medical functions under labour laws. CMPs shall use professional judgment and pay attention to the health condition of the patient in issuing appropriate medical certificates. On the other hand, any CMP who has changed his/her contact address, telephone number, etc, please contact the Secretariat to update his/her contact information. Mr. Wong Ngar-kok James
The application for sitting the 2009 CMPs Licensing Examination for non-listed CMPs was closed in late October 2008. Regarding the application for listed CMPs and repeaters, it was closed on 31 March 2009. The Paper 1 and Paper 2 of the Written Examination of the 2009 CMPs licensing examination will be conducted on 16 June and 18 June 2009 respectively. In the event of bad weather, the examination will be postponed to 20 June 2009. The clinical examination is scheduled to be held between 4 August and mid-August 2009. Candidates should have received the admission form and the "Guidelines for Candidates" one week prior to the examination. They may contact the Secretariat of the Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong (the Council) if they do not receive the above-mentioned documents on time.
A registered CMP shall not practise Chinese medicine in Hong Kong unless he/she is the holder of a valid practising certificate. The Practitioners Board may order removal from the Register the name of a registered CMP who practises Chinese medicine without obtaining a valid practising certificate six months since the expiry of his/her practising certificate. Any person who is not a registered or listed CMP, commits an offence if he/she practises Chinese medicine in Hong Kong. As stipulated in the "Handbook on System of Continuing Education in Chinese Medicine for Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners", any registered CMP who fails to acquire the required Continuing Education in Chinese Medicine (CME) points within the specified CME cycle should submit a written report to explain the reasons for the failure, together with the relevant proofs, to the Practitioners Board before the end of the CME cycle. The registered CMP who should then, within the new CME cycle, acquire the CME points required for that new CME cycle as well as making up the unearned points for the previous cycle. If the total CME points required for the two cycles still cannot be acquired at the end of the new CME cycle, his/her practising certificate will not be renewed until all unearned CME points have been made up. As stipulated in section 160 of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, no refund shall be made to any person or institution of any prescribed fee or any part of any prescribed fee paid under the Ordinance. Every application for renewal of practising certificates is processed by the Practitioners Board in accordance with the stipulated procedures, and the applicant is required to pay for the prescribed fee for each of the submitted application. For registered CMP whose application for renewal of practising certificate was rejected due to failure in acquiring the required CME points for the two CME cycles, the prescribed fee paid will not be refunded. Besides, if such registered CMP makes up all the unearned CME points after his/her application for renewal of practising certificate has been rejected, he/she has to pay for the prescribed fee in accordance with the Ordinance when he/she re-submits the application for practising certificate. As set out in Item 4 of the Schedule of Chinese Medicine Practitioners (Fees) Regulation, the prescribed fee for application for the issue or renewal of a practising certificate is $1,225. In addition, any registered CMP who submits application for renewal of practising certificate after expiry of his/her certificate or any registered CMP who re-submits the application after it was rejected for a period of time, the valid period of his/her renewed practising certificates and the new CME cycle will be commenced from the date of issue by the Registrar and last for three years. If any registered CMP who would not practise Chinese medicine after the expiry of his/her practising certificate, he/she does not need to apply for renewal of his/her practising certificate.
The Practitioners Board held four disciplinary inquiries from December 2008 to March 2009. After disciplinary inquiries, the Practitioners Board ordered that the names of two registered CMPs who have been convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment be removed from the Register of Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners for 6 months and 12 months, but suspended applications for 24 months and 36 months respectively. Besides, the Practitioners Board decided to remove the name of a listed CMP from the List of Listed CMPs who has breached 6 clauses of the Code of Practice for Listed CMPs. For a listed CMP who was convicted of an offence punishable with imprisonment, the Practitioners Board decided to put its decision on record for future reference. When making judgment in disciplinary inquiries, the Practitioners Board would take into consideration factors including the seriousness of the matter inquired into, the number of offence(s) and the relevant date(s), the CMP's background, character, level of integrity and conduct, public's expectation and views of the Chinese medical profession as a result of the matter inquired into, the CMP's right to practise in his/her professional capacity, etc.
In the past two years, amendments to labout laws (including the Employment Ordinance, the Employees' Compensation Ordinance and the Pneumoconiosis and Mesothelioma (Compensation) Ordinance) in relation to recognition of medical treatment, examination and certification given by registered CMPs have become effective. A registered CMP is recognized for issuing sick leave certificates and other proofs in relation to an employee's pregnancy. The sick leave certificates given by registered CMPs can be applied to the work injuries leading to temporary incapacity caused by accidents happening on or after 1 September 2008, and part of the medical expenses relating to work injuries is also reimbursable. Besides, a registered CMP is allowed to conduct medical examination, as arranged by an employer, on an employee who suffered from work injuries and received medical treatment from a registered CMP on or after 1 September 2008. Registered CMPs shall note the following points when carrying out the medical functions under labour laws: (1) When issuing sick leave certificates, registered CMPs shall take reference to the Reference Guide on Issuance of Sick Leave Certificate by Registered CMPs, use his professional judgment and pay attention to the health condition of the patient to give appropriate recommendation in granting sick leave. (2) As stipulated in the Code of Practice for Registered CMPs in Hong Kong, a registered CMP should set up and keep personal medical records for patients under his care. If a registered CMP is requested to verify his/her professional judgment, he/she is obliged to provide complete and accurate medical records and reports. (3) A registered CMP should issue prescriptions to patients. Issued prescriptions should include names and dosages of all Chinese herbal medicines, and number of times for re-dispensing, if any. (4) If consultation fee involves medicines fee, the receipt of medicines fee should include the prescribed medicines sellers' names, addresses, selling dates, names of the medicines, dosages and prices of the prescribed medicines. (5) A receipt of consultation fee should include a patient's name, HKID number, diagnosis, consultation fee, the clinic and information about the CMP, such as the clinic's name, address, telephone number, the name and signature of the CMP who issues the receipt and its issuing date. If the case involves personal injuries and that the CMP prescribes, uses or supplies Chinese herbal medicines or proprietary Chinese medicines to the patients under his/her care, the consultation fee and the medicine fee should be stated separately on the receipt. For any enquiry in relation to labour laws, please contact the Labour Department at 2717 1771 (this hotline is answered by "1823 Call Centre").
The Department of Health has been conducting the new Health Manpower Survey in 2008 to collect information on the manpower and employment status of healthcare personnel practising in Hong Kong, which will be essential for reference of health manpower planning. The survey on CMPs has begun. The letter and questionnaire to all CMPs from the Department of Health had been enclosed with the Newsletters from the Practitioners Board issued in August 2008 and in December 2008. Since some CMPs have not returned the questionnaire, please find the letter and questionnaire re-enclosed to all CMPs from the Department of Health. Please early return the completed questionnaire directly to the Department of Health. For more information and enquiries, please visit the homepage: http://www.dh.gov.hk/tc_chi/statistics/statistics_hms/statistics_hms.html or contact the Health Manpower Unit of the Department of Health at 2961 8566.
As some problems have recently been found in the medicines products and labels produced by some medicines manufactures and wholesalers, the Department of Health has sent letters to all Chinese medicines traders to remind them to observe the requirements under the Chinese Medicine Ordinance and related regulations, licensing conditions and practising guidelines. Enclosed please find the letter from the Department of Health to all Chinese medicines traders for reference.
The Secretariat was relocated from 37/F to 22/F, Wu Chung House, 213 Queen's Road East, Wan Chai, Hong Kong on 10th January 2009. The Council's telephone hotline 2121 1888 and telephone numbers of the Secretariat staff remain unchanged. Contact Information of Chinese Medicine Practitioners The Practitioners Board has lost contact with the following listed CMPs based on their provided telephone numbers, addresses, etc. They are reminded to contact the Secretariat as soon as possible. If other CMPs have any contact with them, please notify them to contact the Secretariat directly as soon as possible so that their contact information could be updated.
All CMPs are requested to notify the Secretariat as soon as possible if there are changes in their registered address, correspondence address, practising address, telephone number, fax number and other personal data which have been previously reported to the Practitioners Board of the Council. Enclosed please find the form for notification of change of personal data. It may also be obtained from the Secretariat if needed.
Should you have any opinions regarding the contents of the Newsletter of the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board, please send them to the Secretariat by post, fax or email, indicating "Newsletter of the Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board". All published Newsletters of Chinese Medicine Practitioners Board have been uploaded to the Council's homepage (http://www.cmchk.org.hk). CMPs are cordially invited to visit the above website.
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