Residential School and Indigenous-Specific Racism Statement: READ HERE – College Anti-Racism Statement: READ HERE
On November 27, 2019, the Steering Committee chaired by Minister of Health Adrian Dix and created to study and recommend changes in the wake of the Cayton Report, released a paper entitled: “Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework: A paper for consultation”. [1]
The paper outlines a comprehensive plan to modernize the regulation of BC’s health professions. The key goals of the plan are to improve transparency, patient safety, public trust and regulatory effectiveness. The paper proposed changes to the twenty BC health regulatory colleges under the umbrella of the BC Health Professions Act.
The paper noted that not all regulated health professions fall under the umbrella of the BC Health Professions Act. Specifically,
“Some social workers are overseen by a regulatory college under the Social Workers Act, while other social workers are overseen by their employer, the Ministry of Children and Family Development. In the future, a proposed oversight body could assess and recommend whether the public interest could be better served if certain existing professions were to be regulated under the Health Professions Act and, if so, by which regulator. The steering committee has noted that there is opportunity to consider improvements to how emergency medical assistants, social workers and counselling therapists are regulated. The proposed oversight body may wish to prioritize review of these groups” (Page 15) [2].
BC College of Social Workers will study the paper and will consider whether to make a response within the allotted time (by January 10, 2020).
As the paper calls for input and consultation from all interested parties, any Registered Social Worker who wishes to do so may participate through either of the following options:
2 Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework: a paper for consultation. (2019) retrieved from https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/578/2019/11/Modernizing-health-profession-regulatory-framework-Consultation-Paper.pdf
[1] Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework: a paper for consultation. (2019) retrieved from https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/578/2019/11/Modernizing-health-profession-regulatory-framework-Consultation-Paper.pdf
[2] Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework: a paper for consultation. (2019) retrieved from https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/578/2019/11/Modernizing-health-profession-regulatory-framework-Consultation-Paper.pdf
