Hong Kong government doctor found guilty of misconduct over driving conviction

A senior government doctor has been found guilty of professional misconduct over a dangerous driving conviction and his failure to report it promptly to Hong Kong’s medical watchdog.

The Medical Council of Hong Kong ordered that a warning letter be issued to Dr Edmond Ma Siu-keung, head of the Infection Control Branch at the Department of Health’s Centre for Health Protection, following a disciplinary inquiry on Thursday.

The inquiry heard that Ma was convicted of dangerous driving at Sha Tin Magistrates’ Courts on December 5, 2024, after running a red light and turning right at the T-junction of Tate’s Cairn Highway and Siu Lek Yuen Road.

His car collided with a motorcycle, leaving the rider with a back injury, according to the panel’s written decision.

Ma was fined HK$3,000 (US$382) and disqualified from driving all classes of vehicles for six months.

In a letter to the council’s Preliminary Investigation Committee in February, Ma said the accident had happened on a rainy night with reduced visibility and admitted he had misread the traffic signal.

Under the council’s Code of Professional Conduct, doctors must notify the watchdog within 28 days of being convicted of any offence punishable by imprisonment.

The panel noted that Ma had stated in his application for a 2025 annual practising certificate, dated November 17, 2024, that he was to be convicted of dangerous driving on December 5. The Central Registration Office (CRO) received the application on December 16.

But the panel stressed that the CRO, which operates under the Department of Health, was separate from the Medical Council.

“Declaration in the application for the annual practising certificate for 2025 does not exonerate the Defendant [Ma] from his obligation to report within the specified time his conviction to the Council,” said Dr Gabriel Choi Kin, chairman of the inquiry panel.

The panel found both disciplinary charges – relating to the dangerous driving conviction and the failure to report it – proven and ordered that a warning letter be issued to Ma.

It also ordered that its decision not be published in the government gazette.