Hong Kong doctors are writing false medical certificates that allow mainlanders to dodge the city’s immigration rules and give birth here, the Sunday Morning Post has discovered.
They are allegedly signing documents for mainland agencies that say the women have received medical checks within the first 28 weeks of their pregnancy - as required by the immigration policy - so they can secure a bed in a private hospital.
The Post understands that one private doctor is being investigated by the Hong Kong Medical Council for allegedly issuing such a forged document. It is not known if this doctor was working with an agency.
A Post reporter who approached the agencies posing as a mother-to-be was told they had doctors licensed in Hong Kong and on the mainland who visited Shenzhen to examine clients.
Most of the agencies have offices in Shenzhen and offer various packages for pregnant mainlanders.
The packages usually cover two prenatal checks in Hong Kong, one standard hospital bed, postnatal accommodation and nanny services, plus help in applying for a birth certificate that establishes the baby’s right of abode in Hong Kong. The cost is about 90,000 yuan (HK$100,000).
A woman calling herself Ms. Zhang, who works for an agency called H. K. Love The Peaceful Household Service, said: “We have doctors who can come to Shenzhen with all their equipment to do the body check and they can prove the check was done, as required by Hong Kong. With the documents our doctor issues, you will have no problem crossing the border.”
It advertises two offices on its website, in Tai Kok Tsui in Kowloon and in Shenzhen. It claims to provide a one-stop service for women who want to give birth in Hong Kong. For those whose pregnancy is too advanced to be admitted to the city, it boasts: “We can arrange hospital certificates for them, without having them going to Hong Kong.”
Choi Kin, a former chairman of the Medical Association, said he understood a local doctor had been investigated for allegedly issuing false medical certificates. Dr. Choi said the government should clarify whether Hong Kong doctors can cross the border and conduct health checks on mainland women.
“Although Hong Kong doctors with a mainland medical licence can now in theory open clinics there under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, nobody has so far practised on the mainland,” he said.
Leung Ka-lau, lawmaker for the medical sector, said it was illegal for Hong Kong doctors to work with agencies to provide a middleman service.
“We can’t stop mainland mothers getting middleman agencies to get them to Hong Kong, but Hong Kong doctors are not allowed to link up with such agencies.”
The government said it was not aware of the situation. The Immigration Department said only that it was an offence to forge a document or make a false representation to an immigration officer.
The Health and Welfare Bureau said doctors who had a medical licence for the mainland could perform health checks on mainland woman for immigration purposes as long as the checks were conducted within 28 weeks of the pregnancy.
“In the private hospital sector, as long as the hospitals allow the doctors to do so, we have no problem with that,” a spokesman said.
The Medical Council declined to comment on reports that a doctor was under investigation.
Since February 2007, mainland women who are 28 weeks or more pregnant must show a certificate at the border checkpoint, confirming they are booked to give birth at a Hong Kong hospital, in order to enter the city. This is to ensure local women receive priority and to restrict the number of non-locals giving birth to avoid straining the health system.
1 comment:
Mainlanders flouting HK birth policy
Local doctors linked to baby service
Chloe Lai in Guangzhou
14 June 2009
Hong Kong doctors are writing false medical certificates that allow mainlanders to dodge the city’s immigration rules and give birth here, the Sunday Morning Post has discovered.
They are allegedly signing documents for mainland agencies that say the women have received medical checks within the first 28 weeks of their pregnancy - as required by the immigration policy - so they can secure a bed in a private hospital.
The Post understands that one private doctor is being investigated by the Hong Kong Medical Council for allegedly issuing such a forged document. It is not known if this doctor was working with an agency.
A Post reporter who approached the agencies posing as a mother-to-be was told they had doctors licensed in Hong Kong and on the mainland who visited Shenzhen to examine clients.
Most of the agencies have offices in Shenzhen and offer various packages for pregnant mainlanders.
The packages usually cover two prenatal checks in Hong Kong, one standard hospital bed, postnatal accommodation and nanny services, plus help in applying for a birth certificate that establishes the baby’s right of abode in Hong Kong. The cost is about 90,000 yuan (HK$100,000).
A woman calling herself Ms. Zhang, who works for an agency called H. K. Love The Peaceful Household Service, said: “We have doctors who can come to Shenzhen with all their equipment to do the body check and they can prove the check was done, as required by Hong Kong. With the documents our doctor issues, you will have no problem crossing the border.”
It advertises two offices on its website, in Tai Kok Tsui in Kowloon and in Shenzhen. It claims to provide a one-stop service for women who want to give birth in Hong Kong. For those whose pregnancy is too advanced to be admitted to the city, it boasts: “We can arrange hospital certificates for them, without having them going to Hong Kong.”
Choi Kin, a former chairman of the Medical Association, said he understood a local doctor had been investigated for allegedly issuing false medical certificates. Dr. Choi said the government should clarify whether Hong Kong doctors can cross the border and conduct health checks on mainland women.
“Although Hong Kong doctors with a mainland medical licence can now in theory open clinics there under the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement, nobody has so far practised on the mainland,” he said.
Leung Ka-lau, lawmaker for the medical sector, said it was illegal for Hong Kong doctors to work with agencies to provide a middleman service.
“We can’t stop mainland mothers getting middleman agencies to get them to Hong Kong, but Hong Kong doctors are not allowed to link up with such agencies.”
The government said it was not aware of the situation. The Immigration Department said only that it was an offence to forge a document or make a false representation to an immigration officer.
The Health and Welfare Bureau said doctors who had a medical licence for the mainland could perform health checks on mainland woman for immigration purposes as long as the checks were conducted within 28 weeks of the pregnancy.
“In the private hospital sector, as long as the hospitals allow the doctors to do so, we have no problem with that,” a spokesman said.
The Medical Council declined to comment on reports that a doctor was under investigation.
Since February 2007, mainland women who are 28 weeks or more pregnant must show a certificate at the border checkpoint, confirming they are booked to give birth at a Hong Kong hospital, in order to enter the city. This is to ensure local women receive priority and to restrict the number of non-locals giving birth to avoid straining the health system.
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