The SAR administration has proposed that physiotherapists, occupational therapists, radiographers and medical laboratory technologists be allowed to accept referrals from registered Chinese medicine practitioners under specific circumstances.
Speaking on an RTHK programme, Chinese University’s School of Chinese Medicine director Lin Zhixiu said the proposals can enable patients to get the most suitable care.
“When Chinese medicine practitioners see a patient and think that they need more check-ups, allowing us to make referrals can ensure that the patient can receive adequate treatment quickly,” he said.
“Secondly, cases of misdiagnosis can also be avoided.
“For example, if patients consult us over sprains or bruises, we have to check whether they suffer from bone fractures.
“Apart from practitioners doing check-ups by ourselves, patients often also need to do an X-ray.”
Lin said the response from practitioners to the proposals was generally positive, but more discussions and consultations are needed to define what the specific circumstances are.
He also brushed aside concerns that there might be theoretical differences between Chinese and Western medicine, saying students are required to take courses related to clinical testing and imaging.
For her part, the chairwoman of the Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association, Sanne Fong, said the government should take the lead in fostering communication between different healthcare disciplines.
“The proposals allow for cross-disciplinary collaborations, but there is currently a lack of a formal communication channel between therapists and Chinese medicine practitioners,” Fong said.
“We have a lot of patients who are seeking Chinese medicine treatment, and we mainly rely on patients or their carers to relay messages from Chinese medicine practitioners, which easily leads to information asymmetries,” she added.
Fong suggested the government hold a summit for different medical disciplines within a year once the proposals have been passed by lawmakers to allow them to make knowledge exchanges and draw up clinical guidelines for Chinese medicine practitioners to make accurate referrals.
