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Regulatory College

College of Diagnostic and Therapeutic Health Professionals of BC [CDTHPBC]

UPDATE December 15, 2022

On the regulatory front, we are finally seeing movement!

For the past two years, the provincial government has been working toward modernization of its approach to regulating health professions. While undertaking this work, no new regulatory colleges were established, resulting in the profession of medical laboratory technology being designated, but without a college. 

This fall the Provincial government brought forward Bill 36 Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA). This new Act, once in force, will replace the Health Professions Act. Most notable in this new Act is that it addresses discrimination in health care and requires cultural safety and humility to be embedded in the way health professionals provide care. The Act also allows for more flexibility in how health professions and occupations are regulated. The government is now working toward developing regulations, and once these are established, the new HPOA will come into force allowing the creation of the new umbrella college that MLTs will come under.

UPDATE August 27, 2020

Regulatory Reform Update

After several months of consultation, the Steering Committee on Modernization of Health Professional Regulation today released its recommendations for moving forward.  The Steering Committee is comprised of the Hon. Adrian Dix, Minister of Health, Norm Letnick, health critic for the official Opposition and Sonia Furstenau, health critic and house leader for the BC Green Party caucus.

For medical laboratory technologists, the most notable recommendations include the following:

Regulatory College of Allied Health and Care Professionals

The proposed arrangement of regulatory colleges will consist of 6 regulatory colleges to replace the current 20.  Medical laboratory technologist will be regulated by an umbrella college, tentatively called the Regulatory College of Allied Health and Care Professionals, along with dietitians, occupational therapists, opticians, optometrists, physical therapists, psychologists, speech and hearing professionals, clinical perfusionists, respiratory therapists, and radiation therapists.

Profession-specific Councils

To address concerns raised that profession-specific expertise could be lost with the formation of an umbrella college, the Steering Committee is recommending that profession-specific councils be created within multi-profession regulatory colleges to address matters requiring profession-specific expertise.

For medical laboratory assistants, the most notable recommendation is the creation of an Oversight Body.  In addition to their role in increasing the accountability and transparency of regulatory college performance, the Oversight Body is the “pathway to regulation” for unregulated professions.  The Oversight Body will consider the level of risk of the profession’s activities on public health, considering the likelihood of harm and its severity of harm should it occur, and whether oversight through regulation is appropriate.  A recommendation from the Oversight Body for regulation under the Health Professions  Act, if accepted by the Minister of Health, would proceed to Cabinet for final decision.  The BCSLS will continue its advocacy and promotion of medical laboratory assistants as regulated health professionals with the Oversight Body once it is in place.

Next Steps

The recommendations set out by the Steering Committee will proceed through government processes as the authority to implement the recommendations rests with cabinet and the Legislative Assembly.  No timelines were provided by government.

The Ministry of Health has invited the BCSLS to participate in a teleconference meeting to learn more about the recommendations.  We will provide a further update after that meeting.

For more information:

BC Ministry of Health press release and backgrounder information: https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2020HLTH0266-001598

Recommendations to modernize the provincial health profession regulatory framework report: https://engage.gov.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/578/2020/08/Recommendations-to-modernize-regulatory-framework.pdf

UPDATE FEB 28, 2020

Fact Sheet – MLT - Regulation and BCSLS Membership

We are providing the following information as an update for BCSLS members and non-members alike, with details as we know them to Feb 28, 2020.

The BC Ministry of Health circulated a document for consultation in late 2019. The document “Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework” describes their collective vision of a new and more effective regulatory framework for health care professionals in BC. One of the key recommendations of this modernization agenda is the reduction in the number of Health Regulatory Colleges in BC from 20 down to 5.  [the entire consultation document is available on the BCSLS website below.

At the time of the release of this consultation document the intent of government prior to this was to establish a diagnostic and therapeutic professions regulatory college that would include Med Lab Technologists. We were virtually at the eleventh hour and literally weeks away from this new college being implemented. Obviously, this initiative was put on hold.

The consultation document itself quite clearly stated the following:

“Diagnostic and therapeutic professions. Prior to the release of the Cayton report, cabinet approved creation of a diagnostic and therapeutic professions regulatory college to oversee respiratory therapists, radiation therapists, clinical perfusionists and medical laboratory technologists. If the College of Physicians and Surgeons, the College of Pharmacists, or the College of Nursing Professionals’ board has confirmed a willingness to regulate one or more of these professions, the board should write to the minister to confirm its intention. Following receipt of the letter, ministry representatives will work with representatives of the diagnostic and therapeutic professions to determine if there is rationale to support regulation by a regulatory college other than the College of Health and Care Professions [a new Umbrella College that is one of the five being suggested] “

As part of our own internal discussion prior to submitting feedback on the document we polled the Boards of Directors of all Four Associations and determined that our preference would be to be part of the new College of Health and Care Professionals and not the other Colleges referred to above.

We made this position quite clear in our response to the government’s consultation prior to the January 10th deadline.

Where are we at now?

The consultation is now over and government [the Minister’s Advisory Committee] is considering all the feedback they received. We anticipate hearing from the Minister and the Ministry as to their intentions in the coming months.

As this “Modernization Agenda” is a tripartite initiative of all three BC political parties, we fully anticipate that it will proceed perhaps with some modification along the way. It is believed that the implementation of this new framework will take 18-24 months.

What does this mean for MLTs [and perhaps MLAs down the road]?

In our opinion, MLTs will be regulated for sure one way or the other, either by the new umbrella College of Health and Care Professionals or by the previous Diagnostic and Therapeutic College that was approved by Cabinet three years ago. It just may take a little longer.

We also believe that because all the work on the actual regulations has already been done, Med Lab Technologists could be one of the first professions allowed into the new umbrella college once it is established. Thus, speeding up the process.

Will BCSLS Membership still be an advantage?

Absolutely! MLTs that are currently certified and working will be grandfathered into the new College. BCSLS members will be the first to be grandfathered, as we have the information needed currently on file to facilitate the process.

Also, once the new College is up and running their will be mandatory requirements for Continuing Education [CE] credits. BCSLS members will have access to most Continuing Education programs and courses at a reduced rate compared to non-members, thus reducing the overall cost.

For more information on the new proposed regulatory framework please see the attached Framework Infographic.

UPDATE DECEMBER 2019

Last week the government released a paper entitled “Modernizing the provincial health profession regulatory framework.” This is in response to the Harry Cayton Report and is the direction recommended by the Minister’s steering committee.

The bottom line is that MLTs will be regulated, just a little differently than we imagined. MLAs will be considered by an independent body if they will be added to the College.

  • I have provided a brief Executive Summary of the report below.

  • The full report is here

  • This was a collective response to the Modernization consultation paper by the Diagnostic and Therapeutic Health Professionals [CDTHP] It reflects the unanimous decision of all four professions and their Boards, to be part of the new College of Health and Care Professionals [CHCP] as identified in the consultation paper. See the response here

Executive Summary:

  • Three main points of focus for Gov’t

    • Improved patient safety

    • Improved effectiveness and efficiency in the regulatory framework

    • Improved public confidence, transparency

  • Main recommendations

    • Number of regulators [Colleges] be taken from 20 down to 5. And it’s not about deregulating anyone – expected that all currently regulated professionals will be encompassed in one of the following colleges:

      • Physicians and Surgeons (existing)

      • Nursing Professionals (existing)

      • Pharmacists (existing)

      • College of Oral Health (new amalgamation of all 4 oral practitioners)

      • Multi profession Umbrella College? College of Health and Care Professions (new)

  • Inspired by UK model, the Health Council there has 16 allied health professional groups

  •  All existing colleges that don’t currently fit within one of the first 4 colleges would by default move to the umbrella college, unless they can make a case for better alignment with one of the first 4.  Would be up to each college to make this proposal

  •  There is still a commitment to regulate the current professions that are asking for regulation. The most apparent fit for MLTs is within the umbrella college. 

  •  Lead time – expected to be in the 18-24 month time frame.   Feedback at this stage needs to be received and reviewed, final report written.  Has to go to cabinet.  Legislation has to be written, etc. – so lots of work to do.

  •  An oversite body will also be created to keep tabs on regulatory activity (similar to UK) - it would be an independent body; part of their mandate would be to consider which unregulated professions need to be regulated. Perhaps MLAs.

 All this is a tripartite proposal by all three provincial political parties, and it will very likely proceed.

 The bottom line is that MLTs will be regulated, just a little differently than we imagined. MLAs will be considered by an independent body if they will be added to the College.

 For More Information contact: Malcolm Ashford, Executive Director, BCSLS, 604-765-4775

UPDATE NOVEMBER 22 2018:

Check out our latest discussion with Meghan Thorneloe and her Ministerial Colleagues, regarding the new College. We are making progress!

Meghan indicated that they [the Ministry] have received the first "draft" of the Ministerial Regulation [the Regs.] from the Legal folks over in Victoria. This is what we have been waiting for.

I stress it is a "first draft" of the Regs. with some questions highlighted by the drafting lawyers that the Ministry needs to respond to. According to Meghan, nothing that can't be dealt with in a timely fashion. For example, they need to clarify the definition of "substance" within our regulation so that it is consistent with other Colleges. There appears to be different definitions from one college to another. This seems to be the most significant question, the others can be dealt with. So, we are not far away from having a final draft regulation ready for posting. Progress!

TO READ MORE ….

UPDATE AUGUST 2018:

Following public consultation on draft regulations, a new college of diagnostic and therapeutic health professions is established and will become fully functional in the next 12-18 months.

The four occupations that will initially form the college have been formally designated as self-regulating with the approval of amendments to the Health Professions Designation Regulation. The new college will initially include: respiratory therapists, radiation therapists, clinical perfusionists and medical laboratory technologists.

Next steps include the appointment of the first college board, which will be responsible for drafting the initial college bylaws and hiring a registrar. College specific regulations will be drafted that set out the general scope of practice, the protected titles of the professions and any restricted activities they can perform. Once these steps have been completed, the college will register individuals who are currently practicing in the province.

Once the new college has been substantially implemented, the ministry will continue its work on regulatory options for a number of other diagnostic and therapeutic health care occupations, including medical laboratory assistants, nuclear medicine technologists, medical radiography technologists, magnetic resonance imaging technologists, medical laboratory assistants, cardiology technologists, diagnostic medical sonographers and medical physicists.

A professional college serves and protects the public, and acts in the public interest at all times, making sure its registrants are qualified, competent and follow defined standards of practice and ethics. Professional colleges are responsible for responding to complaints from patients and the public. They can also take action if one of their registrants is practising in a manner that is incompetent, unethical, illegal or impaired by alcohol, drugs or illness.