8 August 2005
In response to media enquiries on a press report today (August 8) that some medical laboratories have been touting for business and offering members of the public direct medical tests for diseases without prior referral from medical practitioners, a spokesman of the Department of Health made the following remarks:
The Department of Health (DH) has concern about any suspected malpractice in the profession.
The quality of medical laboratory testing is ensured through the regulation of the professional conduct of registered medical laboratory technologists (MLT) by the MLT Board, which is a statutory body established under the Supplementary Medical Professions Ordinance, Cap. 359, Laws of Hong Kong.
The Code of Practice for MLT stipulates that no registered MLT should perform any tests for the purpose of medical diagnosis and treatment in the absence of a referral from a registered medical, dental or veterinary practitioners, or a person registered in respect of a person registered in respect of a medical clinic exempted under the Medical Clinics Ordinance.
Any registered MLT who is suspected of breaching the Code of Practice may be subject to inquiries and liable to disciplinary proceedings.
From 2000 to July this year, the MLT Board has received seven cases concerning the professional conduct of MLT. Two of these cases involved performing tests without proper medical practitioner's referral. One of the MLT had his name removed from the register for one month while the other was reprimanded.
Since the purpose of laboratory investigations is to assist medical diagnosis and/or treatment of disease, members of the public are advised to seek professional opinion from medical practitioners before approaching medical laboratories for any kind of testing.