David Lam made the comment after the Tsim Sha Tsui and Sha Tin branches of private clinic network Alliance Medical Group – which specialises in body checks and inoculations – were suspected to have abruptly shut down last Friday.
As of 5pmSunday, Police and Customs received 1,356 complaints about the group.
The Consumer Council said it received 600 such complaints, and that the highest amount involved in a single case exceeded HK$23,000.
Speaking on an RTHK radio programme, Lam pointed out that there is a loophole in the Private Healthcare Facilities Ordinance.
“If a person opens a centre and a few doctors are there a few days each week, then it’s regulated under the law. But if the centre offers only vaccination services, with nurses or trained personnel to offer the jabs, then it’s not regulated by the law,” he said.
“Of course, you can argue whether or not vaccination is a medical act and whether it should be done by doctors or registered nurses, but in Hong Kong, there’s no clear definition on this.”
Lam, who also chairs Legco’s Panel on Health Services, called on parents who are affected by the suspected closures to bring their children to government Maternal and Child Health Centres or private doctors instead.
Another lawmaker Chan Hoi-yan revealed on the same show that a private hospital has yet to receive any payments since the start of the year for running tests – worth hundreds of thousands of dollars – at Alliance Medical Group clinics.
The medical firm had submitted patient samples to the hospital as of the end of last month, she said, adding those who conducted body checks there should contact their doctors as soon as possible.
The government has set up an interdepartmental team to look into the matter.
