Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau says Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority hired 95 per cent of local applicants for nursing positions over the past year
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenLeopold ChenPublished: 1:55pm, 25 Sep 2026Hong Kong’s health minister has rejected claims that authorities favour mainland nurses over local candidates, saying locally trained professionals have “very good chances” of finding work even as public hospitals struggle to recruit.
Secretary for Health Lo Chung-mau said on Friday that the Hospital Authority had hired 95 per cent of local applicants for nursing positions over the past year. The figure rose to 99 per cent among applicants with registered nurse qualifications.
He said that more than 4,000 students had graduated with nursing degrees, about 3,500 of whom registered as nurses, but only 2,500 applied for Hospital Authority vacancies.
“So the problem is instead, why there were so many graduates deciding not to apply for [public hospital] jobs?” he told a radio show.
