Health Secretary Lo Chung-mau on Wednesday said a series of measures by the Hospital Authority (HA) to train and retain medical staff has been successful, with more doctors serving in the public sector and a drop in the resignation rate.

Speaking in the Legislative Council, Lo said the number of doctors increased by 260 in the 2023-24 year compared to the year before, while the resignation rate dropped to 5.2 percent, from 8.1 percent in 2021-22.

The health minister also told lawmakers that the hiring of medical practitioners from outside Hong Kong is going well, with 144 non-locally trained doctors working for the authority as of the end of May.

"According to our estimation, because of our enhanced efforts to recruit non-locally trained doctors, by the end of this year we expect 250 non-locally trained doctors joining the HA to alleviate the burden on the public healthcare system," Lo said.

Separately, the government announced a new batch of recognised medical qualifications under the Medical Registration Ordinance, involving 28 courses at 20 non-local universities.

Four of the universities are on the mainland – Capital Medical University, Fudan University, Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Sun Yat-sen University.

The others are in Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Under the ordinance, non-locally trained doctors who have a recognised medical qualification can apply for special registration to practise in Hong Kong.