Is Dr X any good? Five things you can check yourself, without ratings
Without online ratings, you can still judge whether a doctor suits you: check the doctor's registration on the Medical Council of Hong Kong website and the specialty on the Specialist Register (doctors may claim only their registered specialty); look at the qualifications and the years obtained; if needed, read the Medical Council's disciplinary judgments; then see whether the hours, location, languages and booking method suit you. Ask about the diagnosis, options and fees at the first visit; for important decisions, seek a second opinion. This site does not publish reviews or rank doctors.
What can you check about whether Dr X is any good?
The table lists five things you can check yourself on official web pages, without relying on ratings. This site's doctor entries also give the register each doctor was checked against and the check date, so you can compare item by item.
| What to look at | Where to check | What to note |
|---|---|---|
| Registration | The Medical Council of Hong Kong's list of registered medical practitioners, searchable by Chinese or English name or registration number | Doctors with the same name are told apart by registration number; for the steps, see How to check a doctor's registration and specialty |
| Specialty | The Medical Council's Specialist Register: which specialty the doctor is listed under | A doctor must be on the Specialist Register to present as a specialist, and may use only the title of their registered specialty (the Medical Council's Code of Professional Conduct, section 7, October 2022) |
| Qualifications | The qualifications and years given on the Medical Council's list | The year is when that qualification was obtained, not when the doctor started practising; for what the abbreviations mean, see What is FHKAM? |
| Disciplinary records | The 'Judgments of disciplinary inquiries' page on the Medical Council website | Published by year for gazetted inquiries held on or after 2 July 2008, in English only |
| Practice arrangements | The doctor's or clinic's website, the Primary Care Directory, or this site's doctor pages | Opening hours, location, languages and booking methods change; confirm with the clinic before you go |
Why doesn't this site publish reviews or ratings?
Online reviews are hard to verify: whether the writer actually saw the doctor, which visit it was, and whether their situation is like yours are things a reader cannot check.
So this site does not publish reviews, give ratings or rank doctors; specialist lists are in order of English name. Instead it lists what you can check yourself in the table above, each with its source and date; see Sources and how we verify them.
What can you ask at the first visit?
What is my condition? What other tests are needed to be sure?
What are the options? What are the benefits, risks and costs of each? What happens if I do nothing?
When should I come back? If things get worse, how do I contact the clinic, and when should I go to an emergency department?
Does the consultation fee include medicine, tests and reports? For how to ask about fees, see How to ask about fees before seeing a doctor.
At the first visit you can also notice whether you understand the doctor's explanation and whether your questions were answered; only you can judge these.
What if you want another doctor's opinion?
A patient wanting another doctor's opinion is a situation the code addresses: the doctor asked may give an honest comment on a colleague's practice, provided the comment is carefully considered, well founded, made in good faith and in the patient's interest (the Medical Council's Code of Professional Conduct, paragraph 19.1, October 2022).
For which reports and images to bring, see How to prepare for a second opinion.
How to choose in different situations
Whether to choose the doctor or the hospital first: see Choose the doctor or the hospital first?; choosing a family doctor: see How to choose a family doctor.
For differences between specialties, such as cardiology, gastroenterology and orthopaedics, see each specialty's guide, for example How to choose a cardiologist.
Frequently asked questions
Is a doctor with high online ratings better?
Book a Doctor does not make that judgement. Ratings reflect the experience of the people who wrote them, which this site cannot verify; what you can verify yourself is the doctor's registration, specialty, qualifications and disciplinary record, as set out in the table above.
How do I find out whether a doctor has been disciplined by the Medical Council?
The Medical Council website's 'Judgments of disciplinary inquiries' page lists, by year, the inquiry dates and case numbers; the doctor's name is in the judgment itself, which is in English only. The page covers only gazetted judgments of inquiries held on or after 2 July 2008, so not finding a doctor there does not mean there is no other record.
Does this site recommend doctors?
No. Book a Doctor does not publish reviews, give ratings or rank doctors; specialist lists are in order of English name, and the page says this is not a recommendation.