Health Professions and Occupations Act

The feedback on part 3 underscored the importance of maintaining the profession’s voice and subject matter expertise in regulatory matters. The bylaws were revised to explicitly state that the majority of committee members must be licensees, and that public representation on committees could never be more than 50%.

Most of the edits to part 6 reflect recent changes to the requirements to be eligible for an independent licence to practise medicine in BC, reflecting the recognition of some extrajurisdictional credentials and streamlining some current registration processes.

Edits were made to part 7 to streamline the application and renewal of permit processes. The requirement to have policies for the operation of the health profession corporation to promote anti-racism, reconciliation, Indigenous cultural safety, and advance equity, diversity and inclusion was removed. The eligibility requirements for a health professions corporation now include confirmation that all employees of the health profession corporation who will be providing health services through the corporation must have professional liability insurance or professional liability protection.

During the consultation process, it became clear that the list of aspects of practice and restricted activities which could be delegated to technicians and therapists did not align with current practices in accredited facilities. Edits were made to ensure the list was consistent with current workflows.

Edits were made to part 12 to provide greater clarity on support program services, including timelines and a maximum limit on funding of support services at $7,500.

Based on feedback, edits were made to capture a detailed list of procedures and diagnostic tests that must be performed in accredited facilities or hospital settings. Some procedures were reclassified as “simple or superficial,” which means they can be performed in a licensee’s community practice.

Edits were made to part 14 to explicitly permit a licensee to make submissions with respect to health monitoring agreements to ensure procedural fairness.

Edits were made to part 15 to permit a licensee to seek a reconsideration of a committee decision and an opportunity to make submissions.

As hearing processes across the various parts were similar, the hearing process was moved to part 16 as a standalone division.