The BC Health Professions Act (and why you should care) ...

According to the British Columbia Ministry Of Health, "British Columbia's health profession regulatory framework is undergoing significant reform." There are 24 regulated health professions in British Columbia. The Health professions are regulated by 21 self-governing bodies (for example, The College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia regulates Dentistry or the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia is the regulatory body established for the health profession of medicine, etc). One of their key functions is to ensure that their members (ie. dentists and doctors) practise competently and ethically. All regulatory bodies administer and oversee public complaints regarding billing practices, conduct, treatments and work performed. The regulatory bodies work very much on the peer evaluation principle which has led to public complaints that the profession protects its own and its own interests. The transistion of the two largest professions, dentistry and medicine, from their respective legistation to the Health Professions Act is scheduled to occur in 2009: - effective June 1, 2009, the repeal of the Medical Practitioners Act will be brought into force and the profession of medicine will be designated under the Health Professions Act. - effective April 3, 2009, the repeal of the Dentists Act will be brought into force and the profession of dentistry will be designated under the Health Professions Act. The provincial government relied primarily on a former Health Professions Council which was an independent advisory body having two main functions: To investigate applications by health care practitioner groups seeking designation as a self-regulated profession, and to consider any matter involving a health profession referred to the Council by the Minister. Changing the entire legislative structure of the two largest health care services in British Columbia - Medicine and Dentistry - had no significant public input: There was no public consultation in the form of tribunals or boards comprised of public representatives for the purpose of determining how the Health Professions Act legislation could better serve public interest and health care services. There was ongoing input for years from the medical and dental regulatory bodies in shaping the Health Professions Act and bylaws to suit their individual preferences. One of the outcomes of the lack of public involvement is that public representation on the regulatory bodies committees and councils will continue to be under-represented. Under the current legislation, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia council is made up of ten of its membership and five public representatives. The College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia council is made up of twelve of its membership and six public representatives. The public is outnumbered in the decision-making processes by two to one (on some committees, the under-representation of public representatives is significantly less). An example of the various committees that directly deal with public matters in the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia is demonstrated below, detailing membership and public representation: Ethics Committee (January, 2009) 7 college members, 3 college staff, 2 public representatives Inquiry Committee (January, 2009) 12 college members, 1 college staff, 5 public representatives Practice Standards Committee (January, 2009) 9 college members, 1 college staff, 3 public representatives Professional Conduct Committee (January, 2009) 11 college members, 2 college staff, 3 public representatives Quality Assurance Committee (January, 2009) 7 college members, 3 college staff, 2 public representatives Equal public representation on the regulatory bodies committees and councils would ensure that decisions affecting the public's health and dental care services include at minimal, equal public input. Regulation of dental and medical services should not be underpresented by those who use those services - namely, British Columbia patients. One of the outcomes of unequal public representation in the health care field decision-making processes can be seen in the BC College Of Dental Surgeons recent initiative in the BC Supreme Court where the College attempted to prevent the public from having any appeals rights under its legislation, Did the regulatory body for BC dental care go too far in taking the public to task in the courts? The court action occurred against a dental patient who appealed the College's investigation decision to take no action in regard to one its members. In order to bring fairness and ethical decision-making to the BC dental public, a petition has been started to pressure the provincial government to put an equal number of public representatives on the College's committees and council to ensure that British Columbians have an equal say in their present and future dental healthcare. Sign petition Update Letter to BC Premier and Health Minister British Columbians are also urged to email the following letter in support of equal public representation on all the committees and the Council of the College Of Dental Surgeons Of BC and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia (changes can made to the text): Full Name: My E-mail:  Locale I live in: Dear provincial Minister of Health and Premier Of British Columbia: I live in British Columbia and have dental and medical services provided to me. I urge you to appoint an equal number of the public to each committee and the Council of the College Of Dental Surgeons Of British Columbia and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia. Under dental and medical legislation, public representatives are and continue to be under-represented both currently and in the Health Professions Act for each respective profession. That is completely unfair and unacceptable to me. I trust that you will agree that the public should be able to equally and actively participate in the regulatory processes and decision making as to how we want our present and future dental and medical care to develop and evolve for this and many generations to come. By putting an equal number of public representatives on the committees and council, instead of inadequate and unequal public representation, the government is showing that it values the participation and input of British Columbians in shaping the present and future of our dental and medical health care. I look forward to receiving your response to my request at your soonest convenience. Join our Connect_Networks (free to join!). You will be able to contribute views and ideas in the SpeakEasy Forum and be kept updated on developments! Visit Vancouver will publish the BC Health Ministry, MLAs and the Premier's responses online. Please email us your email (or letter) and fax the corresponding reply to (small surcharges may apply). The information may also be included in the Visit Vancouver Dental and Medical Reform e-newsletter which all BC dental/medical patients can subscribe to free (and unsubscribe from any time). Your first name initial, surname and area will be included (ie. M. Jones, Prince George, BC) Other articles in this series Did the regulatory body for BC dental care go too far in taking the public to task in the courts?  read ... The cost to the public for dental complaints investigation information  read ... page top