CHEST PHYSICIANS AND RADIOLOGISTS

Inche Ahmad Bin Ibrahim asked the Chief Secretary whether the chest physicians and the radiologists of Tan Tock Seng Hospital and T.B. Clinic, the Medical Superintendent of Trafalgar Home, and the Medical Superintendent and Physiologist of Woodbridge Hospital, are Medical Specialists, and what is the total amount of professional fees earned by each of these Medical Specialists for each of the years 1955 and 1956.

Mr Goode: Sir, the chest physicians and radiologists of the Tan Tock Seng Hospital, and the Medical Superintendents of the Trafalgar Home and Woodbridge Hospital are specialists. There is no physiologist at the Woodbridge Hospital. The amount of fees earned by each officer is again based on the confidential returns made.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Will the Chief Secretary agree to a special committee to investigate this matter and make a report to this Assembly?

Mr Goode: Sir, perhaps I should tell the hon. Member that we are already engaged in reviewing the present regulations governing the retention and earning of fees by these specialists. I do not want to imply, when I say that, that there is any question or any suggestion that these officers - many of whom are very distinguished members of their profession - are earning fees which are out of proportion. But there are a number of unsatisfactory features about the present regulations. One, for example, is the discrepancy between the fees earned by officers of comparable distinction in different branches of the profession, and we are now, and have been for some time, engaged in a review of these regulations with a view to revising them.

Mr Lee Kuan Yew: Is the committee that the Chief Secretary has referred to aware that the Municipal Analyst was earning $5,000 a month in fees until the City Council decided to abolish the right to collect fees?

Mr Goode: I am afraid I cannot tell the hon. Member whether the committee is aware of that.