The Medical Council has been urged to offer a timely and specific explanation over a years-long delay in its inquiry into an alleged medical incident in 2009, leading to proceedings originally scheduled for 2016 being dropped last month.

The inquiry began with a complaint by a couple from the mainland who are alleging that negligence by a Baptist Hospital paediatrician had led to their newborn's cerebral palsy, and the latest key development in the saga saw the council say this week that it would review the decision it made last week to drop the inquiry.

The Hong Kong Medical Association is the latest to weigh in on the matter, expressing deep concern over the incident and saying the council has a duty to address the matter with transparency.

"It is crucial to identify the root causes of the incident to resolve the issue and to restore the confidence of both the public and the profession," it wrote in a statement.

"General statements such as 'awaiting review of the complaint handling procedure' or 'pending retrial' risk being perceived as bureaucratic and unresponsive by both the public and the profession."

Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau on Tuesday gave the council eight weeks to submit a report on improvements to its complaint-handling mechanism.

Alex Lam, chairman of Hong Kong Patients' Voices, also called for a speedy explanation for the delay on an RTHK radio programme on Wednesday.

"For instance, the chairman of the Medical Council, the secretariat, or even the director of health, they would have known better than us," he said.

"Therefore, I think they should explain to the public as soon as possible what led to the delay in the proceedings 10 years ago, instead of taking eight weeks to submit a report on the handling of the complaints."

The council on Monday announced that it would on November 22 review its inquiry panel's decision to put a stay on proceedings.

The inquiry into the incident was launched in 2016 but was only reconvened last month when the panel ordered a permanent stay of proceedings.