YG approach to revising healthcare regulation flawed, says nurse regulation body

The Yukon Registered Nurses’ Association says YG’s current approach to the Health Professions Act update is not consistent with concepts of good governance.
The territorial government is reviewing the Health Professionals Act – the piece of legislation which regulates some health professionals in the territory.
Currently, twelve health professions within the territory are regulated by the community services department, through six acts and 11 regulations. Psychologists are to join that list of regulated health professionals as of Feb. 1, 2025.
Doctors in the territory are regulated by the Yukon Medical Council, which is funded and supported by community services. Registered nurses and nurse practitioners are regulated by the Yukon Registered Nurses Association (YRNA).
The plan, according to the Yukon government’s website, is to regulate all health professionals together under a single umbrella act, and create a singular culturally safe and accessible complaints process.
A May 2022 assessment of the regulation network found the lack of consistent, up-to-date standards of practice presented a high risk to public safety. It also voiced concerns about inconsistent provision or absence of powers in relation to complaints and discipline, as well as the lack of capacity for investigation of complaints.
Amaris Poznikoff, the chair of the board for the YRNA, told the News the regulations in the territory must change.
However, she said, the territory’s intention to bring everyone ‘in house’ could pose a conflict of interest.
“So the government is going to be the owner of the healthcare system, the largest employer of healthcare professionals and the regulatory body,” said Poznikoff. “How do we ensure that that remains free of conflict of interest?”
The new approach was communicated to YRNA, said Poznikoff, and she said the approach was also embedded in questions posed by YG to respondents in a recent public input survey.
“They’re not being transparent with what the plan is, and that’s to bring it in house. And so if they’re making us an advisory board, that means we are no longer an independent regulatory body,” she said.
The survey in question doesn’t engage professionals or the public in an evidence-based way, said Poznikoff.
The online public survey, which closes Feb. 7, asks respondents when they think a complaint against a health professional should be made public, as well as questions about the identity of the respondent.
There are international standards for best practices of health professional regulation, including for complaints processes, investigation and discipline, said Poznikoff.
“And so the concern is, is that it seems that the government so far has been ignoring that best practice,” said Poznikoff.
“These aren’t actually things to be asking the professionals or the public about,” she said.
“When you go to the emergency room if the doctor, every time they went to do something, said like, ‘Which med do you think I should use?’” said Poznikoff.
“The concern is that we’re asking people how to build a system that there is a ton of literature and evidence and best practice on already how to do that,” said Poznikoff. She said public engagement would be most useful in terms of understanding how to Yukonize that system and make it culturally safe for First Nations.
Poznikoff said it is a really good thing the government is changing the Health Professions Act — and that the best model to adopt would be one free from undue influence and conflicts of interest.
She said one of the options for that would be using a single, standardized and independent regulator for all health professions, so that the process of complaints, licensing and standard setting would all be relatively the same. This approach would also allow the pooling of resources, said Poznikoff.
“We’re not doing this because we’re mad that YRNA is going to go away. We know that that’s what’s going to happen,” she said.
Poznikoff said that YG has said that it is listening to the YRNA’s concerns.
In a statement emailed to the News on Jan. 28, cabinet communications said the government aims to create new health professional legislation that removes barriers and provides Yukoners with an easy-to-understand, culturally safe and accessible complaints process they can access if they feel they have been harmed by a regulated health professional.
Regarding the survey, cabinet communications said they are trying to understand what type of decision making needs to be autonomously made by the health professionals and which may be done by staff or Registrar associated with the Health Professions Act.
“Because complaints are treated very differently for each profession, we are asking about various elements of complaints, including alternative pathways to resolutions, duty to report (when an employer or other registrant has a legal obligation to report unprofessional conduct) and publication of discipline information,” reads the statement.
Public surveys and in-person sessions seek to understand the public perspective on the complaints process, per the statement.
Results from the current survey will be available in summer 2025, according to the statement, and the timeline for the legislation’s revision has two phases.
The first phase runs until 2028, involving research and engagement, and the possible drafting of the new Health Professions Act. The second phase of the project — ending in 2031 — will look at profession-specific regulations.
“We do anticipate this being a lengthy process.”
Contact Talar Stockton at [email protected]
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