ix of the HA's hospitals have been awarded Carbon "Less" Certificates by the Environmental Campaign Committee in the Hong Kong Awards for Environmental Excellence last year. This year, we have 30 hospitals awarded this certificate, a recognition of their success in reducing carbon emissions by more than 3%, an equivalent of planting around 10,000 trees, during the past two years.

The HA was the only public-sector organisation last year to be honoured as one of the top three carbon reducers and HAHO was awarded the Class of Excellence of "Wastewi$e Label" for the ninth year running.

The HA's 2012-2017 Strategic Plan stipulates that we will develop management strategies to reduce carbon emissions, in order to minimise the impact of hospitals on the environment. It is great that our colleagues take the initiative to reduce carbon emissions in their workplaces. They deserve a "Like"!

he Medical Registration Ordinance requires doctors who have passed the Exit Examination to complete the specialist registration procedure with the Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) before they become entitled to be called a "Specialist". Starting from 1 October this year, Residents are required to provide proof of specialist registration with the MCHK before they are formally appointed as a Resident Specialist and are converted to permanent employment terms. However, the existing arrangement for granting them exit increments when they pass an exit examination will not be affected.

Residents selected for promotion to Associate Consultant (AC) who have not yet completed their specialist registration will be given a grace period of 12 months to obtain specialist registration. Any AC who has not registered within the given period will need to revert to Resident rank and undergo the normal recruitment process again for AC progression.

he newly-appointed Secretary for Food and Health, Dr Ko Wing-Man, who previously worked in the Hospital Authority, paid us a "homecoming" visit last month. He also attended an HA Administrative and Operational Meeting and shared his views on several public healthcare issues. In the following two weeks, Dr Ko visited each of the HA's seven clusters to gain a better understanding of the problems they face and to encourage frontline healthcare workers.