REPORTS FROM COUNCIL
Committee (QAC).
The benefit of this transition is that the
QAC has a full range of powers at its disposal
under the Regulated Health Professions Act
(RHPA) that can be used when it determines
that education and remediation for a pre-
scriber are required. These powers include
conducting more comprehensive assessments,
directing SCERPs and, when necessary, using
the authority of the Health Professions Proce-
dural Code to impose terms, limits and condi-
tions or refer matters to the Inquiries, Com-
plaints and Reports Committee. This move
will also allow physicians the confidentiality
protections afforded under the RHPA.
Health Canada’s recent announcement that
methadone prescribers no longer need to hold
a federal exemption negates the need for any
ongoing regulatory structure in support of the
exemption itself.
Please see page 34 for more information about
Health Canada’s announcement and the Col-
lege’s expectations of methadone prescribers.
Governance Review
Governance changes to Ontario’s health col-
leges are coming – it is simply a question as to
when. That was the message from a Council
group tasked with reviewing the College’s
governance model.
The Council working group noted the
changes in the external environment that
signaled a new era in the governance structure
of regulatory bodies. Most significantly, Bill
87, the Protecting Patients Act lays important
groundwork for modernization and includes
the most comprehensive changes to the Regu-
lated Health Professions Act since it was put in
place 25 years ago. For example, government
now has the ability to establish the composi-
tion and functions of all College statutory
committees.
So given this landscape, how can the College
governance structure be modernized? How can
we strengthen the integrity of the regulatory
system to ensure public protection? Those were
the questions before Council as it engaged
in a discussion to identify the core principles
that should underpin the College’s governance
structure, the characteristics of a high-perform-
ing board and any changes that would improve
the College’s effectiveness.
In summary, several themes emerged from
the Council discussion:
• Council/board’s role should focus on strat-
egy planning and decision-making, and not
on operational activity;
• A smaller board could improve the abil-
ity of a board to be nimble and respond
more quickly to change; however any
move to a smaller board will require con-
sideration as to how to ensure diversity
and engagement;
• Diversity of board members is important –
this includes geographic diversity, different
fields of practice, different skill sets, and
different career stages; and
• A move to separate or create more inde-
pendence between board and adjudicative
functions could enhance public trust.
College governance will be discussed at each
Council meeting in 2018. The work plan for
the review includes consideration of founda-
tional principles in September and structural
recommendations in December.
MD
ISSUE 2, 2018 DIALOGUE
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