In a radio programme on Monday, Tim Pang Hung-cheong, a patients' rights advocate with the Society for Community Organization, said he had confidence in the competence of the non-locally trained doctors as medical authorities would set strict screening systems for mainland medical workers' selection.

"In addition, the public may still be worried about and it would be better if the Hospital Authority could classify the responsibilities of GBA doctors to work in Hong Kong hospitals to relieve patients' concerns," Pang added.

"It is expected that much time would be taken for the communication between mainland medical workers and local patients, especially it would be important for nurses to have a great grasp of Hong Kong local culture as they would spend much time taking care of patients," said medical lawmaker David Lam Tzit-yuen.

However, he believed Cantonese and English proficiency would not be a problem for GBA medical professionals.

Under the SAR government's scheme of introducing talents from GBA to cope with the worsening brain drain in public hospitals, nine medical specialists and 70 healthcare workers will participate in local medical services next month.

According to the chairman of the Hospital Authority Fan Hung-ling, five of the nine doctors are experienced in respiratory diseases, and the remaining four are specialised in cardiovascular and infectious diseases, as well as radiology and anesthesiology. The 70 nurses all have over 20 years of experience.