Transforming and Supporting Patient Care - Health Professions ...

394Chapter 17 – Conclusionscontinuing competency; mandatory discussion, consultation and transfer ofcare; and standards, limitations and conditions relating to the performanceof an act authorized to the profession. HPRAC has found that the existingprocess for developing and approving standards of practice throughregulation does not work well. It is cumbersome, frustrating and far tooslow. The process creates ongoing challenges for colleges that may end upwithout standards of practice in place that are current and enforceable.HPRAC recommends that the RHPA be amended to authorize healthcolleges to adopt standards of practice that would still be enforceable inlaw but would be developed outside the government’s regulation-makingprocess. The clear authority for the implementation of the colleges’standards of practice would be recognized in statute. This flexibility wouldbe coupled with a new requirement for health colleges to establishinterprofessional standards committees to take part in developing thestandards of practice. The committees would provide a forum for inputfrom other professions that share the authorized acts or have an interest inthe quality of their performance.Council on Health Professions Regulatory ExcellenceThe increased authority conferred on Colleges to establish standards ofpractice must, in HPRAC’s view, be balanced with increased accountabilityfor effective protection of the public interest. This imperative underpinsHPRAC’s recommendation for a new agency to play a strong monitoring andadvisory role to ensure that colleges fulfill their responsibilities under theRHPA and specifically the new objects under the HSIA – including enhancedrelations between colleges and their members, other colleges, keystakeholders and the public; interprofessional collaboration with othercolleges; and response to changes in practice environments, advances intechnology and other emerging issues.Other jurisdictions have struggled to find the right balance between theautonomy of each profession and the shared responsibility for theregulatory system as a whole. Weighing this question, HPRAC hasconcluded that a new independent agency, the Council on HealthProfessions Regulatory Excellence, should be established in Ontario tostrengthen the self-regulation of health professions. The agency shouldincorporate HPRAC’s existing advisory roles and combine them with newroles to provide strategic direction to the Colleges, monitor standardsdevelopment and regulatory performance, and report to the public andgovernment on how Colleges are fulfilling their mandates. The new agencywill support excellence in the work of the Colleges, whether in qualityassurance, patient safety or collaborative relationships, and communicateand guide the adoption of best practices in regulatory functions and ethics.The reforms HPRAC proposes reflect trends in other jurisdictions wheregrowing attention is being paid to the role of regulators and systems ofregulation in promoting collaborative practice among health careprofessionals. By better aligning regulation with changes underway in clinicalpractice, these reforms will help to transform the delivery of patient care.HPRAC Critical Links January 2009