Topic: Write a letter to the editor showing your concerns about the measure of
banning mainland mothers from giving birth in public hospitals. Suggest why the measure is necessary and what else can be done to ease the problem of more and more mainland mothers giving birth in Hong Kong. Sign your letter “Chris Wong”.
Dear Editor,
I am writing regarding the issue of banning mainland mothers who are not married to Hong Kong men from giving birth in the city. The policy should be launched as soon as possible as more and more pregnant women have come to Hong Kong to give birth and it affects the medical service in public hospitals
Pregnant mainland women have been flocking to Hong Kong, adding a great pressure to our health care system. 88,500 babies were born in Hong Kong last year, but nearly half of them were born to mainland mothers. This creates a lot of workload for doctors in public hospitals, driving them to set up their own clinics instead of working in the hospitals. This will worsen the problem of shortage of doctors in hospitals. In order to meet the rising demand, some private hospitals poach staff from the public sector, aggravating the shortage of staff in public hospitals. The remaining doctors in the public hospitals will have to take over other doctors’ jobs and their workload increases. A vicious cycle will be formed.
Serving Hong Kong citizens should be the first priority of our medical service. However, due to the increase of mainland patients, resources allocated to local patients are greatly affected. Hence, local patients cannot enjoy quality medical service in Hong Kong. Taxpayers pay for the local public medical service. What is the point of devoting most of our resources to serving those who are not Hong Kong citizens and have no contribution to Hong Kong?
It is obvious that the government should tackle this urgent problem.
To alleviate the problem, other than banning mainland mothers whose husbands are not locals from giving birth at public hospitals, the government should impose a charging system for non-locals residents giving birth at public hospitals and also for those without an appointment. This system can have a deterrent effect. Some mainlanders may give up giving birth in Hong Kong due to the high cost.
Private hospitals should also play a role in easing the pressure. They usually rely on newborn intensive care units at public hospitals instead of providing their own. They should establish their own newborn intensive care units and if one hospital cannot cope, they should join forces and develop one that can be accessed jointly by private hospitals. They should share the burden of this cross-border childbirth problem as well.
Undoubtedly, this cross-border childbirth trend will continue for years. If the Hospital Authority and private hospitals do not take any action to ease the pressure brought by mainland pregnant women, the right of local citizens will be seriously violated. Therefore, the government should implement a charging system while the private hospitals should expand their facilities to meet the rising demand without further delay.
Yours faithfully,
Chris Wong