The Regulated Health Professions Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009 and Prescribing Authority for NDs
May 11, 2009
The Ontario government introduced a wide-ranging omnibus bill today, the Regulated Health Professions Statute Law Amendment Act, intended to introduce fundamental changes to the regulation of health professions in Ontario. A primary objective of the legislation is to implement many of the recommendations made by the Health Professions Regulatory Advisory Council (HPRAC) in their January 2009 Critical Links report.
The legislation does not include prescribing authority for NDs. As explained below, this omission was unintentional. The OAND has received assurances that the legislation will be amended to correct this. The OAND efforts over the coming months will be focused on ensuring these assurances are successfully translated into acceptable changes to the legislation by being fully engaged in the legislative process. Final approval of the legislation being introduced today is not expected until Fall. We may need to have members involved in our strategy to achieve prescribing authority and we will let you know how and when once we have a chance to analyze the details of the legislation.
When the legislation was initially drafted, prescribing authority for NDs was not included despite being strongly recommended by HPRAC. The OAND had already planned a series of proactive meetings in April with key provincial government decision-makers and at these meetings we were able to determine that it was an inadvertent omission not to include NDs in the initial version of the legislation.
In these meetings, we reiterated the importance of prescribing authority to NDs and their patients, and secured a commitment from the office of the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care that prescribing authority would be included as an amendment put forward by the government during the upcoming review of the legislation by Standing Committee. It is because of this commitment that the bill introduced today includes a section on the Naturopathy Act that provides a place-holder for these forthcoming changes. Amendments during the legislative process are normal. Major changes to the Naturopathy Act were secured through Standing Committee as a result of a focused advocacy effort.
Key background notes used in briefing the government can be found in the Members-Only section of the OAND website. We ask that you not share these documents publicly. The OAND will be continuing efforts over the duration of the review of this legislation to ensure there is a full understanding of the importance of this issue. This includes the recent information package sent to all MPPs (also available in the Members-Only section of the website) and ongoing meetings with key staff and politicians from all parties.
The OAND will be carefully reviewing the legislation introduced today and will share our broader analysis with all members as soon as this review is completed.
Given the sensitivity and importance of efforts to secure prescribing authority, we ask that you coordinate with the OAND before talking about this legislation with your MPP or with the media.
If you have any questions or comments about the legislation or the government affairs work being undertaken by the OAND, please contact:
Alison Dantas, CEO, 416-233-2001, ext. 23 or Michael Heitshu, Director of Policy, 416-233-2001 ext. 27.
The following letter and information package on the importance of prescribing authority was sent to all MPPs on May 5, 2009.
The following are key background papers used in briefing key government officials:
Maintaining Access to Substances
Overview of Parenteral Therapy
