Overview

Colleges are one of several actors that oversee Ontario’s regulated heath workforce. By partnering with other health regulatory colleges and system partners, such as hospitals, and educational institutions, a college can:

  • align practice expectations across practice settings and professions (where relevant)
  • address issues proactively
  • support continuous improvement in the quality of care

To effectively respond to changing public expectations, a college must be informed by, and partner with, the broader health system, including patients and their families.

Commendable practices

The working group identified three commendable practices that are included in this Report.

  • Responding to changing public expectations.
    • A college’s regulatory activities need to be in-step with changing public expectations, population health needs, and models of care, as well as evolving clinical evidence and advances in technology.
    • The College of Audiologists and Speech-Language Pathologists of Ontario (CASLPO) implemented several initiatives in response to changing public expectations. This includes Trust Matters and Patient Rights campaigns to build public confidence and awareness when receiving care from a CASLPO professional. It also includes developing an internal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategy and initiating an anti-BIPOC racism working group with other regulatory partners to influence a broader anti-BIPOC approach across all colleges. CASLPO’s strategy is diverse and includes a dedicated webpage, appointment of a DEI Officer, training for all council and staff, and an e-forum for registrants.
    • The working group identified this commendable practice as critical to the public interest mandate of colleges.
  • Establishing system focused quality indicators for the profession.
    • Collaborating with system partners enables colleges to be sensitive to changing patient and system needs, and positively impacts a college’s ability to plan for the future.
    • In 2018, the Ontario College of Pharmacists (OCP), in partnership with Ontario Health (Quality), started developing quality indicators for the profession that are aligned with Ontario health system indicators. The goal of this work is to focus on the impacts of health care on patient and system outcomes and provide the public and stakeholders with a clearer picture of the overall quality of care being provided by pharmacists. Partners from across the health system were engaged, and included academia, the Ministry of Health, physicians, registrants of the OCP, professional associations, data and analytics experts, and patients.
    • The working group noted that collaboration and development of well-defined partnerships can produce positive results in terms of public protection and health system planning.
  • Inserting a notification tool on the Public Register.
    • Engaging collaboratively with system partners enables colleges to identify initiatives that support continuous performance improvements and meeting changing public expectations.
    • The College of Dental Hygienists of Ontario has implemented a notification tool that will allow a member of the public, or an employer, to sign up to receive notifications about changes to information posted on the Register for specific dental hygienists. This initiative was started as a result of collaboration with the public via a Citizen Advisory Group (CAG), that identified an interest in the ability to find current information about their practitioner. The CAG noted that information on a website was only current as of the day you accessed the register. The college has developed a video that provides information about what the tool is and how to use it. Notifications are sent by email and include changes to information relating to a registrant’s registration status and conduct.
    • The working group noted that this feature is the first of its kind for a regulator in Ontario and a commendable practice that improves transparency and timely communication of information about registrants to the public.

Collective strengths

Colleges provided diverse examples of how they collaborate with system partners to improve the alignment of practice expectations and to respond to changing public expectations. Many colleges identified broad and targeted stakeholder engagement strategies to respond to changing system and public needs in a timely manner.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic Ontario’s health regulatory colleges have worked to ensure that regulated health professionals have the information they need to provide competent and safe care during the pandemic. A notable practice identified by the working group was the collaborative effort to create return to practice guidance between the College of Kinesiologists of Ontario, the College of Occupational Therapists of Ontario, the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario and the College of Physiotherapists of Ontario.

The working group also identified a notable practice by the College of Opticians of Ontario. The college is working with several other colleges to build joint resources related to procurement and shared data collection and analysis services. This will address challenges faced by small and medium-sized colleges.

Lastly, the working group identified notable practices related to public safety by the College of Nurses of Ontario (CNO). The CNO has worked to implement the recommendations of the 2018 Long-term Care Homes Public Inquiry, developing and sharing multiple resources on preventing intentional patient harm that are relevant to all regulated health professionals. Additionally, the CNO is collaborating on the development of a national database for sharing nurse registration and discipline information. The database will enable proactive sharing of information about nurses across jurisdictions and will enhance public safety in a time of increasing labour mobility.

System improvement

Colleges are encouraged to continue to build upon the system partnerships they have established and to use examples reported by other regulators to identify new relevant opportunities.

The working group noted that the commendable practices identified above are applicable to all colleges. The working group also highlighted that the necessary resources and tools for patients are well defined on the CASLPO’s website to support adaptation and implementation in other colleges. Additionally, colleges are encouraged to continue to find ways to incorporate patient and public perspectives and feedback into their work.

Improvement commitments by colleges

The System Partner Domain did not request colleges to provide specific evidence to demonstrate how they met a standard, given that all colleges interact with the health system differently based on the profession they regulate. Many colleges provided information about projects that were in the process of being implemented. Where a college provided an example of work that was underway, they have been asked to provide an update on their progress in future reports.