Acceptance of Medical Certificates Issued by Ministry-approved TCM Physicians

Er Dr Lee Bee Wah asked the Minister for Manpower whether the Ministry can review the policy concerning medical certificates issued by Ministry-approved TCM physicians and mandate its acceptance for medical leave claims across the board.

Mr Speaker, under the Employment Act, all employers are required to grant paid outpatient sick leave to employees with medical certificates (MCs) issued by any medical practitioner registered under the Medical Registration Act (MRA). TCM practitioners can also be registered, if they fulfil the requirements of the MRA.

This is already a wider recognition of MCs. Before April 2019, employers were only required to recognise MCs if they were issued by a Government or company-appointed medical practitioner.

I should add that employers are free to go beyond the minimum provisions in the Employment Act and recognised TCM practitioners' MCs for the purposes of granting paid sick leave.

Sir, I have one supplementary question. I would like to ask the Minister how many TCM practitioners are registered with MRA? I have residents who told me that they go to TCM for treatment, but then because the MC is not recognised, so at the end, they just paid some money and got an MC from a clinic. They feel that they have to spend extra money and waste of time and waste of resources. So, I would like to ask how many of these TCM practitioners are registered with MRA, because Minister mentioned the MCs of only those registered with MRA are recognised.

I thank the Member for her supplementary question. From what she has asked, I gather her concern is really with regard to individuals, who are seeking to get the medical certificates because they feel unwell to work.

We have to take it in a broader context. There are more than 4,000 medical practitioners that are registered under the MRA. There should not be a concern that the individuals have no access to doctors who can issue valid MCs. People may consult TCM practitioners for any number of reasons, but the fact that the Employment Act requires MCs to be issued by an MRA-registered practitioner in order to be valid, has been known for quite a long time.

Employers are certainly free to do more than what the Employment Act requires, to recognise other medical certificates. But the practice adopted within the Employment Act is consistent with the Medical Registration Act. If I may quote to the Member, section 15 of the MRA states that "no medical certificate or other document required by any written law to be signed by a duly qualified medical practitioner shall be valid unless signed by a person who is registered under the Act and has a valid practising certificate".

But like I said, if employers would like to recognise TCM medical certificates, they are certainly free to do so.