Transforming and Supporting Patient Care - Health Professions ...

41Chapter 2 – Excellence in Health Profession Regulation: Raising the Bar in OntarioIn addition to the requirement for interprofessional standards committees,the health colleges’ authority to develop standards of practice that havelegal authority would be balanced by a number of mechanisms to increaseaccountability and ensure the protection of the public. These include a newlegislative requirement that members practise within an individual scope ofpractice, to the limits of the individual’s education, training andcompetency, as well as the responsibility of Colleges to establish andenforce more rigorous requirements for continuing competence and qualityassurance.HPRAC is making legislative recommendations to provide additional checksand balances to support the new process for the development of standardsof practice. A key proposal is to allow the new agency, CHPRE, to play a rolein the development of these standards in certain circumstances. Forexample, a college would be required to submit a copy of the proposedstandard to the Minister, to the CHPRE and to every member, at least 60days before establishing the standard. This is a change from the currentprocess that requires a College to provide only its members with a copy ofa proposed regulation. Giving CHPRE and the Ministry the opportunity toreview, in a specifed time period, the proposed standard before it isfinalized provides additional safeguards and ensures that the public interestis protected. In addition, CHPRE could circulate a copy of the proposedstandard of practice to other colleges, health professionals and expertadvisors for comment and review. This provision would enable CHPRE toseek additional input into the proposed standard.Matters to Be Addressed by RegulationHPRAC is recommending that some health college responsibilities shouldcontinue to be addressed in regulations made by the Lieutenant Governorin Council, including conflict of interest rules, Codes of Ethics and commonadvertising rules. The process contemplated by HPRAC is that CHPREwould facilitate the joint development of common regulations for allColleges to the extent possible. Once completed, the proposed rules andCode of Ethics would be submitted to the Minister to be considered as aregulation under the RHPA.HPRAC has concluded that this is a workable approach for a number ofreasons. One factor is that conflict of interest and advertising rules, as wellas Codes of Ethics, are not matters that will need to be amended on afrequent basis.With respect to conflict of interest rules, HPRAC recognizes that there aresignificant differences in the roles of the health professions, and thatsubstantial examination of what is essential in an ethical approach toconflict of interest must take into account these differences. For someprofessions, the selling of drugs or products, along with the prescribing ofthese drugs or products, brings a particular concern; for other professions,business relationships with other health providers and corporations are amatter of interest.HPRAC Critical Links January 2009