Scope of Practice Reform
The new model is characterized by two essential elements: scope of practice statements and restricted activities. Scope of Practice StatementsScope of practice statements are the concise descriptions, in broad, non-exclusive terms, of each regulated profession's activities and areas of professional practice. These statements describe in general what each profession does and how it does it. They are not exhaustive lists of every service the profession may provide, nor do they exclude other regulated professions or unregulated persons from providing services that fall within a particular profession’s scope of practice. Restricted ActivitiesRestricted activities (formerly called reserved acts) are a narrowly defined list of invasive, higher risk activities that must not be performed by any person in the course of providing health services, except
Individual professions will be granted a list of specific restricted activities from a ‘master list’ as appropriate to their education and competencies, which may be performed while providing the services described in their respective scope of practice statements. The same restricted activities may be granted to more than one profession. Not all professions will be granted restricted activities. Unregulated persons or classes of persons may be exempted from the prohibition. The 'master list' and any exemptions will also be established in regulations. This approach abandons the historical notion of professional exclusivity in which legislation prohibits any person other than a member of the profession from performing certain services or procedures, except where another profession is also specifically authorized in legislation to perform them. Under the new model, many aspects of the scope of practice of each regulated profession may overlap, or be shared, with those of other regulated professions, and may also be performed by unregulated persons (to the extent that either no restricted activities are involved in the service, or the unregulated person is delegated or authorized to perform a restricted activity under supervision). This approach supports enhanced interprofessional and multidisciplinary practice and increased consumer choice, while maintaining patient safety and public protection. Implementation StatusOn November 21, 2006, the Ministry gave initial notice of the proposed Reserved Actions Regulation. On December 12, 2008, the Ministry gave notice of a revised list of proposed restricted activities. This replaced the proposed Reserved Actions Regulation released in 2006. On March 19, 2010, the Ministry gave notice of an updated list of proposed restricted activities, to be added to the Health Professions General Regulation. This replaces the proposed list released in 2008.
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