Health officials are seeking to bring in more non-professionals to the Medical Council while maintaining "a certain proportion" of doctors on the watchdog, as part of a preliminary proposal amending legislation to reform the body.

Proposing changes to the Medical Registration Ordinance on Friday, authorities also said they would require the watchdog to set targets in handling complaints against practitioners at various stages.

The council came under scrutiny following a years-long delay in an inquiry into a case in 2009, which involved a mainland couple complaining that negligence by a Baptist Hospital paediatrician had led to their newborn's cerebral palsy.

The disciplinary proceedings were initially terminated, before the council overturned its ruling in November last year.

A Health Bureau spokesperson said officials hoped the legislative amendments would prevent the recurrence of such cases, but noted the proposal was not trying to take away the council's professional autonomy.

"We don’t want to give the false impression that the government intends to intervene in the operation of the council," the spokesperson said.

"We are mainly pushing for the council's reform through amending legislation."

One of the planned changes involved adding more non-professionals to the council, which currently makes up a quarter of body members.

While officials have yet to detail the council's composition, the spokesperson said the proportion of doctors should be "maintained at a certain level" to conduct peer review when assessing a practitioner's professionalism and conduct.

It is also "very likely" to add more members to the 32-strong council, the spokesperson added.

On improving the system handling complaints, the administration is looking to require the council to set a target timeframe and make them public during disciplinary proceedings.

The spokesperson said it would be up to the watchdog to come up with such targets, but the requirement could hope to push parties involved in expediting the process.

The government also hopes to write into law to specify the inquiry panel conducting disciplinary proceedings to "adopt the finding of facts" by courts in convicting the individual in question, and de-register a doctor convicted of a serious offence and jailed for a certain period.

Other than reforming the council, the bureau proposed widening the special registration pathway to no longer differentiate between permanent and non-permanent residents.