The Establishment of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing & Midwifery as a statutory body

1. This paper provides a brief on the background and progress towards setting up the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing as a statutory body. This is to solicit preliminary views which will be included in a draft bill to be presented to the Legislative Council. The draft of the nursing bill will be widely circulated for consultation, among professional nurses, other healthcare professionals and other stakeholders.

2. In 2002, the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing Steering Committee (HKANSC) was set up in the Nursing Council of Hong Kong to study the need for the establishment of a specialist register for nurses (see Annex 1). A proposal for setting up an Academy of Nursing was submitted to the then Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food in September 2004. Support in principle from the Bureau was confirmed in June 2006. The Nursing Council of Hong Kong decided to hand over the follow up to Dr. Susie Lum, Chairman of HKANSC.

3. In June 2006, the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing Preparatory Committee (HKANPC) was formed to continue the work of the HKANSC which was subsequently dissolved. The HKANPC, in its first meeting, brought together nursing leaders from the Nursing Council, the Midwifery Council, Department of Health, Hospital Authority, 21 professional associations and 4 universities to start the work. After a series of consultative meetings, seminars and workshops, the consensus of the profession was to form a Provisional Hong Kong Academy of Nursing (PHKAN) as a company limited by guarantee without a share capital to pursue the establishment of an independent statutory institution to regulate specialist nursing in Hong Kong.

4. In October 2011, the PHKAN was incorporated under the Hong Kong Company Ordinance and the Council of PHKAN held its first meeting on 11 November 2011. In May 2012, the PHKAN and 14 Academy Colleges were inaugurated by the Secretary for Food and Health. To date, the PHKAN has admitted a total of 3,325 Fellows and 18 Honorary Fellows since 2012.

5. As a statutory body the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing & Midwifery (HKANM) aims at accrediting and regulating advanced practice nurses in order to safeguard the public’s interest to receive safe and quality health care services. The HKANM is proposed to be set up with the following objectives:

1. to protect the public by regulating standards of advanced nursing practice;
2. to educate the public regarding the value of professional nursing specialization;
3. to promote the improvement of health care for Hong Kong citizens;
4. to promote the advancement of the art and science of nursing;
5. to promote integrity, ethical conduct and standards in the practice of advanced nursing and its specialties;
6. to foster the development of advanced practice nursing education in specialty areas; and
7. to facilitate the exchange of information and ideas in nursing and matters concerning the nursing profession

6. A Task Force on HKAN Ordinance was formed in 2012 with the Executive Committee of PHKAN together with Dr. Joseph Lee, Legislative Councilor and Mr. Lester Huang, Legal Advisor of PHKAN. In June 2013, with the assistance of Mr. Tony Yen, Honorary Consultant of PHKAN, and Mr. Lester Huang, a Bill was drafted to provide for the establishment and functions of the HKAN as a statutory corporation to be enacted by the Legislative Council of Hong Kong. It is envisaged that this will be eventually introduced into the Legislative Council through a Private Member’s Bill. The draft Bill will provide for mainly the establishment of the Council and its members and the power of the Council is to achieve the objects of the HKAN. (A full list of the Members of the Task Force is in "Annex 2)

7. From October 2013 onward, a series of consultation meetings have been organized to solicit input on the draft Bill from Patron, Advisors, Fellow members, the Nursing and Midwives Councils, higher education institutions, nursing colleagues, members from other healthcare disciplines and related stakeholders. So far, we have received encouraging advises and supports from many constituents.

8. With the draft nursing bill for the establishment of a Hong Kong Academy of Nursing as a statutory body, comments and advised from all stakeholders will be sought.

Terms of Reference of the Hong Kong Academy of Nursing Steering Committee set up in the Nursing Council, Hong Kong

1. to identify categories of specialist nurses, training and experience required to become a specialist nurse and to consider the need for the establishment of a nurse specialist register and registration examination; and
2. to adapt the extant Ordinance to embody a specialist nurses accreditation and registration mechanism, which for the time being, for convenience's sake is to be known as the Academy of Nursing, with special attention to the positioning of the Academy.

Membership of the Task Force on HKAN Ordinance