ABSTRACT
This chapter examines whether the setting up of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong is amenable to enhancing competition between hospitals, and whether the introduction of semi-private beds will promote choice and competition both on intra- and inter-sector levels. The Hong Kong Hospital Authority was formally established with the enactment of Hospital Authority Ordinance in 1990 and took over the control and management of public hospitals in 1991. The Hospital Authority was chosen to tackle the major problems of public hospital care, like over-centralisation, inflexibility, low staff morale, long waiting lists, overcrowded conditions, poor co-ordination between ex-government and ex-subvented hospitals, etc. The establishment of the Hospital Authority may result in more fee-paying private patients via the expansion of private paybeds. If this practice were further strengthened, inter-sector competition between private and public hospitals would be enhanced. The Hospital Authority enjoys greater flexibility in dealing with personnel matters such as salary scales, hiring and firing and the use of part-time staff.
