23-53  Conditions of Public Health
Item	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Number of Registered Healthcare Professionals①(person)
Doctors	11242	11505	11739	11961	12215
Chinese Medicine Practitioners
Registered Chinese Medicine Practitioners②	4986	5133	5268	5540	5860
Chinese Medicine Practitioners with Limited	55	61	68	79	72
Registration③
Listed Chinese Medicine Practitioners④	3015	2957	2897	2847	2823
Dentists	1896	1941	1976	2025	2074
Pharmacists	1517	1583	1649	1722	1785
Nurses⑤	44402	35465	36444	36965	37447
Doctors per Thousand Population	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7	1.7@
Number of Medical Institutions and Hospital Beds
Medical Institutions                                         (number)	98	99	103	103	107
Hospital Beds                                                        (bed)	34400	34119	34532	34928	35048
Beds per Thousand Population	5.1	5.0	5.0	5.0	5.0@
Notes: Figures are as at end of the year stated.
①Statistics on the registered healthcare professionals are provided by different data sources, including the Medical Council of Hong Kong for
doctors, Chinese Medicine Council of Hong Kong for Chinese medicine practitioners, Dental Council of Hong Kong for dentists, Pharmacy
and Poisons Board of Hong Kong for pharmacists,  and Nursing Council of Hong Kong for nurses.  Annual renewal of practising certificate
is required only for doctors, dentists and pharmacists.   Registered Chinese medicine practitioners (CMPs) and nurses are required to renew
the practising certificates every three years. Figures for doctors/dentists refer to the doctors/dentists with full registration on both the local
and overseas lists. Figures for nurses refer to registered nurses and enrolled nurses.
②After full implementation of the Chinese Medicine Ordinance, all CMPs should be registered before they can  practise Chinese medicine in
Hong Kong.  Any person who wishes to be a registered CMP should have satisfactorily completed an approved undergraduate degree course
of training in Chinese medicine practice, take and pass the Licensing Examination.
③CMPs with limited registration are allowed to perform clinical teaching and research in Chinese medicine in the specified educational and
scientific research institutions.  The registration period of CMPs with limited registration should not exceed one year and they cannot engage
in private practice with patients.
④Listed CMPs can practise lawfully in Hong Kong under the transitional arrangements for registration of  CMPs until a date to be announced
by the Secretary for Food and Health in the Gazette.  Listed CMPs may become registered CMPs through direct registration,  registration
assessment or licensing examination during the transitional arrangements.
⑤The number of nurses had dropped in 2005 due to the removal of names of more than 9000 nurses from the register/roll in accordance with
Section7(3)(e) and Section 13(3)(e) of the Nurses Registration Ordinance, Cap. 164 Laws of Hong Kong.