O. Reg. 377/12: GENERAL

 

ontario regulation 377/12

made under the

OPTICIANRY ACT, 1991

Made: June 27, 2011
Approved: November 14, 2012
Filed: November 19, 2012
Published on e-Laws: November 19, 2012
Printed in The Ontario Gazette: December 8, 2012

Amending O. Reg. 219/94

(General)

1. Part III of Ontario Regulation 219/94 is revoked and the following substituted:

PART III
QUALITY ASSURANCE

General

7. In this Part,

“assessor” means an assessor appointed under section 81 of the Health Professions Procedural Code for the purposes of the quality assurance program;

“Committee” means the Quality Assurance Committee;

“program” means the quality assurance program.

8. The Committee shall administer the program, which shall consist of the following components:

1. Continuing education or professional development designed to,

i. promote continuing competence and continuing quality improvement among the members,

ii. address changes in practice environments, and

iii. incorporate standards of practice, advances in technology, changes made to entry to practice competencies and other relevant issues in the discretion of the Council.

2. Self, peer and practice assessments.

3. A mechanism for the College to monitor members’ participation in, and compliance with, the quality assurance program.

9. Every member who holds a certificate of registration as a registered optician shall participate in the program and fulfil its requirements.

Self-Assessment and Continuing Education or Professional Development

10. (1) Every member shall retain records of his or her self-assessment and continuing education or professional development, in the form and manner approved by the Committee, for six years.

(2) At the request of the Committee or an assessor, a member, within 30 days of being notified of the request, shall,

(a) provide accurate information to the Committee or an assessor about his or her self-assessment, continuing education or professional development activities; and

(b) make his or her records available to the Committee or an assessor for inspection.

(3) Every member shall participate in self-assessment, continuing education or professional development activities as approved by the Committee to ensure that, in the Committee’s opinion, the member’s knowledge, skills and judgment are satisfactory.

Peer and Practice Assessment

11. (1) The peer and practice assessment shall include an assessment of the member’s knowledge, skills and judgment.

(2) The purpose of a peer and practice assessment of a member’s knowledge, skills and judgment is to ensure that the member continues to practice competently and adheres to the standards of practice of the profession.

(3) Each year the Committee shall select at random, including by stratified random sampling, the names of members required to undergo a peer and practice  assessment.

(4) A member shall undergo a peer and practice assessment of his or her knowledge, skills and judgment if,

(a) his or her name is selected under subsection (3);

(b) a request is made to review the records of a member’s self-assessment, continuing education or professional development activities under section 10 and the records, in the opinion of the Committee, are not complete or fail to demonstrate that the member has engaged in adequate self-assessment, continuing education or professional development activities; or

(c) the member is selected on the basis of other criteria specified by the Committee and published on the College’s website at least three months before the member is selected on the basis of that criteria.

(5) An assessor may conduct an assessment in stages and may conduct the assessment with the assistance of others.

12. (1) At least 14 days before the assessment begins, the Committee shall notify a member that he or she will undergo a peer and practice assessment and in the notice, provide the member with the name of the assessor.

(2) Within 14 days after receiving the notice under subsection (1), the member may ask the Committee to appoint a different assessor so long as the assessor mentioned in the notice under subsection (1) has not yet begun the assessment.

(3) The Committee may appoint another assessor after considering the member’s request under subsection (2).

(4) The Committee is not obliged to consider more than one request by a member for a change of assessor.

13. (1) When the member has completed the peer and practice assessment, the assessor shall give the Committee a written report of the assessment.

(2) If, after considering the assessor’s report together with any other materials that are relevant to the peer and practice assessment, the Committee is of the opinion that the member’s knowledge, skills and judgment are not satisfactory, the Committee may exercise any of the powers in section 80.2 of the Health Professions Procedural Code, if the Committee,

(a) provides the member with a copy of the assessor’s report and other relevant materials;

(b) provides the member with notice of the Committee’s opinion and intention to take action;

(c) gives the member notice of the member’s right to make written submissions to the Committee within 14 days of receipt of the notice, or a longer time stipulated by the Committee; and

(d) after considering any submissions made by the member, is still of the opinion that the member’s knowledge, skills and judgment are not satisfactory.

(3) The Committee shall advise the member of the results of the peer and practice assessment, whether or not the Committee intends to take any further action with regard to the member.

Commencement

2. This Regulation comes into force on the day it is filed.

Made by:

Council of the College of Opticians of Ontario:

Fazal Khan

President

Bev Sloan

Registrar

Date made: June 27, 2011.