Health Bureau to launch 50 recruitment processes

The Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, has revealed that the Health Bureau (SSM) has been given the green light to hire at least 529 health professionals by the end of the year. Fifty recruitment processes will be launched to hire 386 medical staff (including 18 general practice doctors, 14 medical specialists, 161 nurses and 28 pharmacists, among other professionals) and 143 administrative work professionals.
“The Health Bureau has enough [room in the] budget to hire more professionals. Now [SSM] has to speed up the administrative process to recruit them. The Health Bureau needs to work more and be faster,” said Mr Tam.
The head of the Health Bureau, Lei Chin Ion, said that medical staff will also be hired overseas, namely in Portugal, Taiwan and China.
The Bureau revealed yesterday that it is launching a set of measures to help reduce waiting time at the S. Januário public hospital. These measures include the launching of a mobile phone app (now available in Portuguese and Chinese), which will provide patients with real-time information on the number of people waiting to be seen by a doctor at the emergency room of S. Januário, the private hospital Kiang Wu, or the Workers’ Medical Clinic.
Mr Tam said that the Bureau is still working on an English version of the app. The app is already available for Android, but management is still awaiting permission from Apple to be used by iPhone or iPad users.
SSM will also be providing subsidies to Macau residents who already have access to free healthcare services. In this context, the public hospital will cooperate with the Kiang Wu private hospital and non-profit medical units to provide external medical appointments.
If they come across a long waiting list for appointments at the public hospital, this group of Macau citizens will be able to access Kiang Wu services and be granted a MOP230 subsidy for the appointment; or access non-profit medical entities while receiving a MOP110 subsidy. The new measures address individuals aged 65 or above, residents aged 10 or below, primary and secondary students, pregnant women, people with disabilities, individuals facing economic woes, civil servants and their relatives, professors, and holders of the healthcare services card that is issued by S. Januário. CP