Tung Wah College (TWC) welcomed the proposed legislative amendment put forth by the HKSAR Government in the 2021 Policy Address to allow patients to have direct access to healthcare professional services (including physiotherapy and occupational therapy) without a doctor’s referral so as to avoid delay in treatment.

Professor Matthew Yau, Dean of School of Medical and Health Sciences, Dr. Vicky Tsang, Associate Professor and Programme Leader in Occupational Therapy, and Honorary Professor Dr. Kit Sinclair (former President of the World Federation Of Occupational Therapy) of TWC concurred with the policy proposal and stated that when clients are having physical, mental and cognitive issues that interrupt their daily activities and jeopardise their functioning in activities including education, work and leisure, they should be able to access to occupational therapy services to improve their physical and mental wellbeing, in order to re-acquire the necessary life skills. Indeed, having a medical diagnosis is only one of the many means to identify potential clients in need of occupational therapy services. Removing the requirement of medical doctors’ referrals will allow occupational therapists to provide their professional expertise directly and immediately for clients who are having various physical, neurological, cognitive, developmental, social and mental dysfunctions that interrupt their life engagement.

In addition, potential rehabilitation service users, such as elders who have limited access to the community due to injuries, adolescents with emotional crisis or children with learning difficulties do not need to wait to be classified with a medical diagnosis. Occupational therapy services minimise their health risks through appropriate professional evaluation and intervention, thus greatly enhance their quality of life. In order to better serve the community with appropriate medical service, the healthcare professions in Hong Kong need to move forward to this more progressive paradigm to promote health and wellbeing for all.

Professor Grace Szeto, Programme Leader in Physiotherapy of TWC, also welcomed the proposal and issued a joint statement with The Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association and other local tertiary institutions offering degree programmes in physiotherapy, showing their support in the removal of the requirement of medical doctors’ referrals for direct access to physiotherapy services, strengthening the role of physiotherapists in primary healthcare setting and implementation of mandatory Continuing Profession Development (CPD).

Professor Grace Szeto opined that the physiotherapist profession has been fighting for many years for “the removal of the requirement of medical doctors’ referrals” which is a common international practice in place in more than 80 countries. Direct access will bring tremendous benefit for clients as they can get effective treatment at an early stage by saving waiting time for general practitioners’ visits and taking referral letter to start physiotherapy treatment. TWC has full confidence in its physiotherapy students as they are taught with extensive medical knowledge to make clinical decision for direct access, in order to provide professional assessment and treatment for the people in need. TWC is planning to organise more CPD learning activities in diverse specialty areas such as diagnostic imaging, sports physiotherapy, fitness testing and workplace ergonomics, aiming to provide training to the profession for seizing the opportunities arising from the implementation of the new policy.